


Galaxy Rendezvous

by hexterah



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: New Jedi Order Era - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-07-26 02:30:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7556629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hexterah/pseuds/hexterah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jacen Solo spends four days on Hapes for the Marauder's Masquerade. None of the four days go how he planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> This is one big giant piece of fluff that I started a couple months ago when I began writing again like crazy. There's a few things I picked from past fics and stuck in here as a sort of greatest hits lol thing (there's always stuff I want to revisit with these two <3) but I really just wanted to write something and this is what happened. (Also in my "just wanting to write SOMETHING" phase -- an upcoming and ridiculous Sith-related story with these two.)
> 
> I thought I would look into one of the big three traditions on Hapes -- the Marauder's Masquerade (the other two being the Queen Mother's Birthday and the Queen's Pageant -- both of which I'm hoping to write fics on with Jacen and Tenel Ka as well). This takes place after the New Jedi Order ends and is obviously AU since Jacen isn't on his ~FIVE YEAR MYSTIC QUEST~ that he takes in the books. A small note: the first chapter is pretty short -- the others go on for a good while.
> 
> Written from April 9 to May 1, 2016.
> 
> If you're up for some J/TK fluff then I hope you enjoy this! ;D

Hapes looked exactly like it did the last time he had visited. Clear skies, pristine buildings, beautiful women, barely clothed men -- same as always. One glaring difference from his last visit stood out to him though; his best friend had become the Queen Mother of the Hapes Consortium. Jacen still considered her his best friend even though they hadn’t had a chance to catch up since the war with the Yuuzhan Vong ended; that was one of the main reasons for his visit. He had seen news of her coronation when he returned from captivity, he had seen her across chambers during crowded meetings and briefings surrounded by Hapan guards, but now he just wanted to see _her_. Jacen realized he hadn’t had a chance to really talk to her since the mission to Myrkr.

The city of Chume’dan was busier than he had ever seen it and he figured it was because of the Marauders’ Masquerade, a festival that spanned four nights and the main excuse he had for visiting. His _reason_ had been to see Queen Mother Tenel Ka Chume Ta’ Djo, the _excuse_ he told everyone was he wanted to go relax and enjoy himself for the first time after the war ended. Most of the people he told about his trip though -- his parents, Jaina, Tahiri, Zekk, Lowbacca, Uncle Luke -- they all knew his _reason_.

The Queen Mother’s head social secretary greeted him at the main entrance of the Fountain Palace and the expression the man made when he realized who he was looking at was an expression Jacen couldn’t actually read. Amusement? Disbelief? Disgust? Solo had noticed that Hapans tended to invent new expressions on the fly and he had stopped trying to read them years ago.

“Pleasure to see you too, Mister Vessau. It’s been far too long.” Jacen said, as he pasted the biggest grin he could manage on his face.

After one of the royal handmaidens showed him to the stateroom that would be his for the duration of his visit, Jacen found a mask on the neatly made bed. It would cover only the top half of his face and was made of a dark green velvet, shots of silver and shimmering black thread weaving their way around the mask in meticulous curls with larger spirals above his eyes. The shape was asymmetrical, there were taller flourishes of velvet on one side that would reach above his head while he wore the mask and along the top curve of the tallest flourish was a carefully arranged set of black and green feathers. Black gemstones outlined the bottom edges of the empty eyes and the ties to hold the mask on were a thick black ribbon. He briefly wondered where the item had come from as he turned it over and over in his hands, studying it. It took care of his mask for the festivities, at least.

He placed it on the dark purple and gold comforter that covered the bed and sat down beside it, dropping his shoulder bag on the ground. Jacen figured between the big duffel bag laying at his feet and his smaller shoulder bag, he had enough clothes and things to amuse himself with while Tenel Ka was busy for the time he was staying there. With a sigh, he locked his hands behind his head and laid back, his gaze meeting a canopy above that matched the comforter below him.

It felt good to be doing _absolutely nothing_. The war left no free time and the celebrations and briefings after the war had left no free time, so this was a very welcome change. As he laid sprawled out on the lush Hapan furniture, he closed his eyes and faintly reached out to his surroundings with the Force. He could feel how much activity was going on in the massive dwelling around him and a bright spot in all the madness was the Queen Mother. Jacen sensed her and gave her a nudge through the connection they had always shared in the Force -- seconds later he felt one back, acknowledging that she knew he had arrived. A smile crossed his face as he left their connection wide open, sensing a sudden warmth knowing that she was so close. It had been too long and he suddenly found himself excited for the evening ahead. Just feeling her presence wasn’t enough -- he knew it was her and she was near, but seeing her with his own eyes would make him even more comfortable than he already was.


	2. The First Evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's play: "See If You Can Spot the How To Train Your Dragon Reference!"

Six. There were six suitors who had approached the Queen Mother at the banquet before the actual masquerade started that night. All of those formalities were supposed to start after dinner but that didn’t stop those six suitors from trying to garner her favor beforehand. Maybe they thought she would appreciate the effort. Maybe they thought she would notice them more than the others.

No. There was only one person her attention kept returning to and he was currently at the other end of the table of which she sat at the head. He looked like he was talking to some dignitaries from… she couldn’t see them behind the extravagant dress of one of the Hapans at the table. But it _looked like_ Jacen was wearing a political smile. The smile people put on when exchanging pleasantries with beings from places far away. Although, unlike many others Tenel Ka had known in her lifetime, his most likely wasn’t just a political smile. It wasn’t a ploy or a ruse. It was genuine. That was one of the reasons she had always been so drawn to him -- whether she wanted to admit it to herself or not -- he was genuine. One of the things most of the people around her on Hapes knew nothing about.

As she let her gaze roam away from him to some of the other tables, she noticed that more than a few suitors seemed to be glaring at Jacen with extremely sharp vibroblades for eyes. She could only imagine what they would do when she was actually able to talk to him for the first time in months. Entering last and sitting at the head of the main table was a tradition for the Queen Mother at the start of each night of the Marauder’s Masquerade so Tenel Ka hadn’t gotten a chance to even greet Jacen yet, except through the Force, naturally.

Once her steely gray eyes drifted back to her own table, she caught sight of him looking up at her, a glass slightly raised in his grasp. He tipped it towards her the smallest bit and then downed the whole thing. She saw him pause for a moment, blink a few times then shoot her an over-confident grin.

Hiding her mouth behind her hand, Tenel Ka felt a pang of guilt at the fact that she had forgotten to warn him about the champagne brought in from Daruvvia especially for the masquerade. It was extremely strong and very expensive and she was mildly shocked that he hadn’t passed out in his plate of food after it hit his system. She suppressed a grin at his sudden wave of cockiness and mentally reminded herself to keep an eye on him -- in case he _did_ end up passing out.

She raised her eyebrows in his direction and sent a quick jab through their bond.

_Bet you weren’t expecting that, hm?_

Tenel Ka kept her gaze on him as she delicately wrapped her lips around a cut piece of Ithorian starfruit and slid it off of the fork she held. The fruit was almost overripe and that was when it was at its juiciest. She wasn’t overjoyed to be wearing the Queen Mother’s wardrobe but she wanted to keep it clean and free of anything food-related at least. She knew she would be happier and much more comfortable once she was able to change for the actual masquerade. As she chewed the starfruit, she heard his voice in her head.

_Was someone planning to warn me about that and forgot to do so?_

At the other end of the table, Jacen Solo realized he could still feel the warmth of the champagne, except that warmth had now spread. He felt it all the way to the tips of his toes. Shutting his eyes against a sudden wave of dizziness, he made sure he felt alright enough to open them only to find another full glass on the table in front of him. Turning his head to the left, he saw one of the Hapan servants (male, not wearing much, _naturally_ ) standing beside him with a tray full of glasses. Some were empty, some weren’t. He must have replaced Jacen’s empty one with a nice, new glass. Full of that _same champagne_.

“Thank you,” he managed to say through clenched teeth, forcing a smile as the man with the tray moved to the next table.

Quickly shifting his head back to the right, Jacen stared wide-eyed at the Queen Mother, trying to ignore the sudden wave of envy he felt towards that piece of starfruit and waited for an answer to his next question.

_Oh, splendid. So, Your Majesty, I take it that it would be a cultural offense to Hapes not to drink this. Right?_

_Fact._

Tenel Ka personally didn’t care if he drank the second glass of champagne or not, but she knew the stir it would cause around him. Especially with -- she glanced past him to the other tables and counted five suitors with their eyes still frozen in his direction -- especially with _them_ watching. Bringing her own glass up for a small sip, she felt the somewhat familiar warmth of the Daruvvian champagne and she made sure to keep her gaze on Jacen when she took a slightly longer sip without any effect.

Any instant effect, anyways. 

Standing up, she shuffled the skirt of her overly decorated gown, preparing to head back to her quarters to change clothes. Before she moved away from her chair though, she picked up the glass one more time, downed the rest of the contents and set the empty glass on the tray of a passing servant.

_Hope you haven’t passed out by the time I get back, Solo._

Jacen’s expression at her finishing her drink and her declaration had turned into a melodramatic mixture of _i-guess-that-was-impressive_ and _hey-watch-this_ because as soon as her empty glass hit the tray he had his own in his hand. Chugging the whole glass and steeling himself against the feeling he knew was coming, Jacen was relieved -- somewhere in his suddenly hazy mind -- that none of the servants were around to give him yet another full glass. He blinked slowly; once, twice, a third time and then finally managed to look at the head of the table. The smirk that seized his features was just as exaggerated as before and the raise in his eyebrows was slow, but he was fairly sure Tenel Ka could see it from where she stood.

It was the first time she had stood from her seat since her entrance and Jacen took a moment to admire her all fancied up before his vision began to blur. He couldn’t set his empty glass down. He didn’t need a third one. He _couldn’t_.

_Since when are you worried about me, Your Worship?_

Arching a copper eyebrow, the Queen Mother turned and headed towards the palace halls, still a little shocked that she had witnessed Jacen defeat a second full glass of champagne in such a short amount of time.

_Who said I was worried about you? Maybe I just do not have the desire for passed out bodies all over my palace. I’m quite sure there will be enough of those at the end of the night -- no need to add one to the number, Jacen._

She entered her chambers, already pulling scarves and jewelry off and throwing them on the bed. The mask she was supposed to wear was sitting on the small table near the doors that led to the balcony and after giving it a quick glance, Tenel Ka leaned over the bed to reach the dress that she had laid out earlier. The _comfortable_ one. The one she’d be wearing for the rest of the night. Her hand hovered over it for a moment and then she pulled back, turning and seating herself on the bed instead. She could take her time. The festivities wouldn’t get into full swing until she showed up anyways and she knew Hapans loved the idea of fashionably late, so why not follow their lead and give them what they wanted. A grand entrance.

Kicking her shoes off and sprawling back on the bed, Tenel Ka stared at the ceiling, her right hand absently undoing the intricate knots laced up the side of the dress she had been wearing for dinner.  After getting about halfway down the bodice, her hand slid to the bed and her mind began to wander.

_Jacen? Anything going on that I should be concerned about?_

There was a period of time before anything was sent back from him through their connection. Five minutes? Seven? Ten? Fifteen? _Thirty?_ At some point, a jolt -- something resembling a physical shock -- lit up Jacen’s mind. His thoughts were directed towards Tenel Ka at that moment, so swimming somewhere in his head was the knowledge that she most likely felt it too.

_TENEL KA. QUEEN MOTHER HER MAJESTY OF THE 63 PLANETS OF HAPES AND KIND OF DATHOMIR TOO. HEY. Hey there. So, so… Tenel Ka. Concerned? You? No. No. Of course not. No reasons. None._

Downstairs, a small part of Jacen wondered just how loud this was all coming through in her head but all the other parts of him just kept going.

_Everything is GREAT. I am GREAT. YOU. Are GREAT. I had another glass of that purple stuff after you left and then one of those guys gave me some gold drink that had a bunch of fruit and something in it and it is DELICIOUS. I need ANOTHER ONE._

Before the third glass of wine and well before the second type of drink one of the half-dressed waiters had shoved into his hand, Jacen had headed back to the guest quarters. He had stood over the sink in the refresher, splashing water on his face and staring at his reflection, waiting for the champagne in his system to let up a little. He hadn’t been planning on having any more drinks that evening -- anything alcoholic, anyways -- but he had grabbed his mask from where he had left it on the bed, headed back into the main hall and was instantly handed another wine. There were Hapan eyes on him when the glass hit his hand and he downed it in seconds, masked beings around him suddenly clapping at his display. Suddenly, there had been another drink in his hand.

Now Jacen Solo stood against a thick marble pillar, a half full glass of something in his left hand and his right rubbing the back of his neck -- which he noted felt so hot, almost feverish. His brown hair was disheveled and through the finely decorated mask that covered the top half of his face, there were wide eyes of the same shade, darting back and forth.

_And just where are YOU, Your Highnessness?_

Up in the royal chambers, Tenel Ka’s eyes widened and she bolted upright, her hand instantly continuing to unlace the dress she was still wearing. She hadn’t been lying there staring at the ceiling that long, had she? Maybe she had. The silence of her quarters was so much more welcoming than the noise of the crowd in the main hall.

_In my quarters, making sure I’m presentable for the rest of the evening, Jacen. Where are you? I’m somewhat certain you aren’t all_ there _mentally right now, yes?_

Tenel Ka rushed to undress and grabbed what she needed to put on, slipping into the refresher and stepping into the new gown while she glanced into the mirror. Her makeup was still present and her hair was still in place in the loose, low bun at the back of her neck. Good enough. The monstrosity of a dress she had on before was in a silver heap of fabric outside the refresher door and she stepped over it, grabbing a burgundy cape off of the back of the chair in front of her desk and placing it over the deep green gown she had put on -- a simple, floor-length sheath of Hapan silk. It was more giving, lighter and definitely more comfortable than the outfit from dinner.

These were all helpful things for the moment since she knew she needed to get back to the main hall quickly -- she had been ready to wait for a bit but after hearing what she had heard in her head from Jacen, she knew waiting was the last thing that she could do.

She admitted -- only to herself -- that when his rambles went through her head she had found that she had to stifle a laugh. Even though she was slightly worried about his physical state, he seemed to be in good spirits and after all they -- especially he -- had been through with the Yuuzhan Vong, that was a small victory.

Tenel Ka was about to press the panel by the entrance to open the door and return to the masquerade until she remembered she hadn’t grabbed her mask. With a sigh, she retreated back into her quarters once more, hoping Jacen could survive a bit longer.

Their connection was strangely quiet after Tenel Ka sent the last thought in the form of a question. Two questions. Neither of which were going to be answered right away. Jacen had been too busy to answer them. Busy doing what -- well, his hands were full -- two glasses, one in each, liquid to the brim. One of the taller flourishes on his mask had caught someone’s raised hand out where everyone was dancing and cocked it to the side so he could only see out of one eye. He hadn’t been dancing though; he had been attempting to make it through the moving crowd to the main entrance of the hall without spilling either of the multi-colored drinks he was clutching.

There were multiple people who said things to Jacen as he passed -- there probably would have been more but the mask threw some off, apparently. Some were acquaintances who were also attending the masquerade, some were suitors of the Queen Mother’s, spitting snarky remarks in his direction. He acknowledged them all the same way: raising both drinks towards them, pasting a huge grin on his face and making a noise somewhere between a “Hey!” and “Ayyyyyy” - somewhere in his mind he realized he hadn’t felt this good since the war had ended. Whether it was the alcohol, the party, the company, or all of the above, he wasn’t sure.

Stumbling out into the quiet halls of the Fountain Palace, Jacen Solo smiled back to the pair of guards by the entrance back into the hall. He noted the look they gave each other. It was a slightly concerned expression but one of them was definitely holding back a laugh. He was a galactic hero after all (the media’s words -- he was perfectly content _without_ the title and the attention) and here he was, grinning widely and raising his drinks to the guards before vanishing around the corner of the hallways.

Through the buzz in his head and the blur in his vision, Jacen followed Tenel Ka’s Force signature to a giant pair of double doors on the next floor, above the banquet hall. He could feel the music from the first floor under his feet and without realizing it, began bobbing his head along with it.

_Right here. Hi, Your Majesty!_

His thoughts trailed off and his head continued to bounce as he stared at the doors ahead of him and waited. That was the moment he realized he hadn’t spilled a drop of either drink on the journey upstairs.

_I am the best. Oh, sorry, Majesty, I meant to say that to myself. In my head. To myself. I didn’t mean. How are you? Things are great here. I’m fine._

Inside her quarters, and now rushing back to the panel by the door, Tenel Ka tucked the mask under what had always been left of her missing arm (still no replacement or prosthetic after all these years, which is how it would continue to be) and used the fingers of her right hand to punch a few of the points on the lit up screen.

_What? Right wh--_

“Oh,” was all that came out of her mouth at the sight of Jacen Solo, bedraggled and proud at her door with two drinks and a crooked mask. “Jacen.” His name came out in a hiss as she reached out and grabbed the front of his jacket, pulling him into her quarters and elbowing the panel to shut the door behind him. “Do you know how much trouble you would be in if the guards caught you at my door like this?”

Again, like the chuckle she had to hold back from their exchange of thoughts, she was trying very hard to keep her lips thinned even though they kept threatening to upturn the slightest bit. She was very confident that the mere sight of him at this moment was far more amusing than anything happening at the masquerade. Acrobats, fire jugglers, dancers, martial artists -- Tenel Ka had seen them all at other Hapan functions. But this. _This._ He almost looked like a kid again and he was shifting back and forth to the beat of the music downstairs. She half-expected him to get the sudden urge to tell a joke.

“Are you alright, Jacen?”

The laugh that came from him had started when she asked about the guards and was punctuated by a giggle when she grabbed him and pulled him into her quarters. He _still_ hadn’t spilled a drop of either drink, even after that.

_I’m good. I’m fine. Great. You’re good, right?_

A wide grin spread across his face, revealing a set of pearly white teeth -- one of which had a small sliver of fruit on it from his fourth? Fifth? Whatever drink that had been. Jacen held his left hand out, offering one of the drinks to the Queen Mother.

_Brought you a present. It’s delicious._

Bringing the glass in his right hand to the one he was offering her, he clinked them together, the sound echoing in the cavernous chamber, and he didn’t even wait for her to take the drink from him before moving his own up to his lips. Normally, he would’ve started by picking the piece of fruit from the drink and devouring it, but since his hands were full he began to shift the glass around, his lips moving over the edge until he reached the fruit that balanced on the rim, Jacen was ready to chomp down on it like his animals used to do with their meals when he was younger, but instead, his upper lip knocked the fruit off the rim of the glass and he watched it fall onto the carpet below his feet. The noise he made was a sigh that turned into a groan that turned into a growl. That was a perfectly good piece of fruit just _there_ now. Discarded on the ground.

_I could get that. It’s right there. I’m sure it’s still good. The Fountain Palace gets cleaned, what, every day?_

“You know you’re standing right in front of me and can _speak_ , correct?” Taking the glass he brought for her before he had a chance to spill any of it, she moved her gaze from his face to the piece of fruit on the ground. He wasn’t, was he? She looked back up to him. “Jacen.” Setting the present he brought her on the dresser she stood near -- after she took a small sip -- Tenel Ka placed her fingers under his chin and pulled upwards. She only stopped once his eyes were on her and not the food he lost. “We can get you more Ithorian starfruit downstairs.” She straightened his mask and dusted the front of his jacket off, before spotting starfruit seeds that clung to his cheek where he knocked the fruit off of the glass with his face.

“Maybe you need to stay up here for a bit though. You might need some time to--” She trailed off as her fingers brushed against his cheek, wiping a couple of the seeds away. His skin was warm -- some thanks to all the drinks he consumed, no doubt -- but it was the first time her fingers were on anyone in this fashion in quite some time. She sparred with some of the guards here and there, but Hapan kickboxing holds weren’t anything like this. “--time to rest a bit of _this_ off.” Moving her hand from his cheek, she gestured to him and his current state before bringing her fingers back up to clear the rest of the seeds from his skin.

“You just gestured to _all of me_ ,” Jacen croaked. He wouldn’t let his eyes leave hers once her hand moved closer to him, whether she was looking up at his or not, and he took the last sip of his drink when she brushed his jacket off. Through the pleasant, boozy haze in his mind, he silently thanked the fruit that fell off of his glass and gently pushed his cheek into her fingers as she attempted to wipe the last of the starfruit seeds away. If Jacen watched this exchange later, in a much more sober state, he would’ve been embarrassed at how forward he was being. His friend was the Queen Mother of Hapes now. This was the first occasion they had spent this much time together since the mission to Myrkr. It was a much different situation, but Jacen never forgot the fact that she had almost kissed him then, right before he was torn from the strike team for the rest of the mission and presumed dead.

Tenel Ka dropped her hand back to her side and turned away to face the dresser and the _present_ that was still sitting on it, condensation from the glass pooling on the wooden top. Another small sip wouldn’t hurt. Then at least she would have an actual scientific reason for her cheeks to be flushed.

Jacen was watching her and his eyes stayed locked on hers until he couldn’t see them anymore. Suddenly he found his gaze getting lost in a mix of red-gold hair and gems. He observed her take a sip of her drink and as she set it back on the dresser, he caught a glimpse of something he hadn’t seen in _years._

Stepping towards Tenel Ka, he stopped behind her and to her right, his chest brushing the back of her right shoulder as he reached past her and set his glass down next to hers. His fingers moved to a small tray that sat on the dresser, to the exact thing -- a necklace -- that caught his eye with a translucent shimmer. Delicately pulling it from the tray -- as delicately as he could in his current state -- he held it up in the moonlight that entered through the balcony doors and smiled as the pale pink eggshells seemed to glow slightly while he shifted it back and forth. Jacen had to blink a few times to see it clearly and had to steady himself for a moment as well. Something in his brain told him that the drinks were finally getting to him. All of them.

“You still _have_ this?”

She tensed up when she felt Jacen behind her and was now overly aware of his voice in her ear and his breath on her neck. There were a very small number of things in the galaxy that caused Tenel Ka to tense up outside of battle and Jacen Solo in a case like this was apparently one of them. Of course, there had never really been a case such as this until this night.

“I do.” Her voice was quiet and her eyes were following the necklace he had made for her when they were younger. He was studying it in the low light of her quarters and even as dim as their surroundings were, the gort eggshells managed to hold that same glow that they did when he originally put them around her neck as a teenager. “Why would I not?”

Tenel Ka silently noted at that point that Jacen had slowly been swaying. Not too far either way, but she’d feel the warmth of him behind her and then the cool air drifting across her back which the low cut of her dress left bare, followed by his chest against her shoulder again. The scent of alcohol was like a second skin on him now, clinging to him and masking the usually faint earthy smell he somehow possessed. She had always loved that because it reminded her of Yavin IV and made her feel like she was home. She wasn’t sure where that was exactly, but the fact that Jacen’s scent made her think of _home_ told her something she didn’t want to fully admit to herself yet. Her people’s needs came first, not her _wants_.

_Needs_ , she corrected herself.

“Jacen, do you need to sit down?”

“Nonono, are you kidding, Your Majesty? I’m _fine_.” He looked from the necklace down to her, his eyes traveling once more through red hair and the gems woven through the locks. Unlatching the crude clasp he had made on the necklace so long ago, Jacen rested the eggshells against her collarbone and shut the clasp at the nape of her neck. Grabbing her upper arms, he turned her around to face him and let his eyes travel from hers down to the pale pink eggshells. “I mean… I thought…” He shrugged, his hands still on the bare skin of her upper arms. “It’s not really… the quality is… it’s not up to _the standard_ for the Queen Mother of sixty-three planets… so…” His shoulders shifted into a shrug again and he brought the fingers of his left hand to her neck, where he let them run over the thin, translucent shells. Jacen was mildly surprised to see that they were still in such good shape after so long.

“You don’t have to wear that back downstairs… I just…” Jacen paused and shut his eyes. He didn’t notice that his right hand had begun to squeeze the upper part of her left arm as his other hand moved to his face, drifting from a place in front of it, to the side where his palm rested on his cheek. “I just… wanted to see it on…” The breaths he was taking were shortening with each one that was inhaled and exhaled. “...see it on you.”

Jacen watched as Tenel Ka’s face seemed to multiply. Suddenly everything was a blur of red-gold, dark green and moonlight. “Maybe I _will_ … sit…”

His head swung around. There were three chairs in the room (or maybe two? Four? His vision wouldn’t agree on a number) and a bed -- and the floor, of course. But Jacen just stood there, one hand on his face and the other on the upper part of her arm he had injured even before the necklace had been a thought in his mind.

It seemed as though all the drinks finally decided to act at once. Just what he needed. _Perfect timing_.

She seemed to reach out without a second thought, wrapping her right arm around Jacen’s waist and angling him to face the bed, both of them almost tripping over the hem of her gown as he was guided towards the mess of pillows up by the headboard. “Here, Jacen.” Letting go of him for a moment, Tenel Ka pulled the sheets back on the bed and turned to him, gently lifting his mask from his face and setting it on the nightstand. 

She pressed her lips together at the sight of his red cheeks and herded him around her to the bed. “You need to rest.”

When Jacen felt Tenel Ka’s arm around his waist, he also felt his head growing light. He wasn’t sure if that was the alcohol, her touch or both, but a weak chuckle escaped him. This wasn’t anywhere near what Jacen had planned when he decided to go to Hapes for the Marauder's Masquerade. Jacen had wanted to come to Hapes and talk to her about everything that had happened while he was on Yuuzhan’tar and everything that went on during the rest of the war -- he didn’t want to bring them both back to Myrkr mentally, but there were some things he wanted to ask her regarding that as well. He had seen her on the Holonews, he had seen her at political functions, but he hadn’t seen her alone. And now _this was happening_.

As he lowered himself onto the royal, cushy, oversized bed of the Hapan Queen Mother -- with said Queen Mother’s assistance -- Jacen clumsily kicked his boots off and fell backwards, his gaze roaming across the ceiling above him. Brandy-brown eyes were lost every few moments under heavy lids as Jacen saw Tenel Ka moving around the room. He would catch a glint of the eggshells around her neck in the moonlight here and there, that same glow catching the glass of water she set next to him. The grin he pasted on his face when she did that was toothy and melted into a sort of slack-jawed expression a few moments later. “Thanks, Highnessness.” Something between a hiccup and a cough sounded before he finished. “‘Ness.”

Tenel Ka figured Jacen would recall next to none of what was happening (she knew the effects of Daruvvian champagne, plus other drinks he had would only serve to exaggerate those effects) but she wanted to make sure he at least remembered his name and where he was when he woke up and this would be the safest place on Hapes for that to happen.

After setting the tall glass of water next to his mask, she began to move away from the bed once he was settled and headed back to the door, stopping when it slid open to reveal a harried social secretary.

“What are you _doing_ ? People are waiting downstairs for you to show your face, _Majesty_.”

“Helping a friend, Gadell. Something you would know nothing about,” Tenel Ka said, as she tilted her head and gave him a tight-lipped grin.

With one sharp bark of a laugh, Gadell leaned over the Queen Mother’s shoulder and looked further into her room. “Is that the _Solo_ boy?” He paused. “In _your bed_?”

“Perhaps.” Shoving her hand into his side, she began to push him out of the room. “That’s none of your business anyways, Vessau.”

“Dear, I’m your social secretary. _Everything_ is my business.” As he was being evicted from her quarters, he caught sight of the eggshells around her neck. “What is _that_? It doesn’t match your dress at--”

Without answering and before he could finish, she elbowed him through the threshold of the room out into the hallway and turned back, peeking in on Jacen once more before heading back downstairs.

Jacen could feel her presence still close by and he lifted his head up from the pillows as well as he could manage to see her peering around the corner of the wall, a halo of copper hair above that face he knew he would never grow tired of -- for a moment he screamed internally, thinking he had said that out loud but he knew he was safe when he realized it had only been in his mind.

Raising his hand in a weak wave, Jacen shuffled around on the side of the bed she had led him to and turned over. The hand in the air moved from the wave it had been attempting and dropped onto the bed where he patted the empty spot next to him (he’d actually remember that little motion the next morning and turn at least three shades of red at the thought) and buried his head in the pillows. Before his face was muffled by the Hapan silk fabric of the pillowcases, he called out across her quarters. “Ni’night, Your Worshipfulness.”

Tenel Ka hid the beginnings of a grin behind her hand after it delivered a return wave to the just-about-passed-out Jacen Solo and kept it there as she slipped by Gadell in the hallway. He spouted off some nonsense about how the necklace she had left on clashed with her shoes but she only heard it somewhat, as her thoughts were still back with the lanky Jedi sprawled out on the bed she never used back in her quarters. Her neck was still flushed where his hands had touched her skin and her mind kept looping that split-second action of him tapping the bed beside him. Did he mean to do that? Would he even remember that he did it? It _had to be an accident_.

Taking her hand from her mouth, she slapped her social secretary’s arm as he tried to herd her back to the main hall at a faster pace than they were already moving. The rest of the night was a blur. She had made a speech and then there were drinks and performances and dancing and words to her from suitors that either made her roll her eyes or thank the Force that she was wearing a mask due to how _dirty_ they were. Naturally, people thought they could get away with so much more due to the masks, but she could still pick out every single person there. And she would _remember_.

She had returned to her quarters roughly five hours after she had left Jacen there originally, her hair now disheveled, her dress now marred down the left side by a trail of some sort of juice from one of the fruits along the dessert trays and her head mildly buzzing from the drinks she had consumed. There had been so many things going on downstairs, but even between all of it, the alcohol, the people who had approached her and talked her ear off, the courtiers attempting to get her attention -- even between all that her mind had kept returning to _him_.

Meandering over to the bed, her cape wrapped around her right arm and her dress smelling of fruit, Tenel Ka kicked her shoes off on the way, stopping at the exact spot she had been standing when she helped Jacen into bed. She lifted her arm, the cape-covered limb shoving her mask back off of her head where it tumbled to the floor behind her. Without hesitation, once the mask hit the ground, Tenel Ka leaned down and pulled the covers further up over Jacen, to his shoulders, and then planted a kiss on his forehead. “Night, Solo.”

She turned away from the bed, suddenly scowling at the fabric tangled around her and wrestled it from her arm, throwing the cape to the ground near her mask. With a pause, she tried to calculate when the last time had been she had had that much to drink. _Last Marauders’ Masquerade, no doubt,_ some voice said in her head as she hiked the hem of her dress up to her thighs and stumbled around the bed, heading to the refresher to clean up and change before slipping under the covers of the cot in the back hallway that she had slept on since her coronation.


	3. The First Evening - Aftermath

A groan sounded from under layers of sheets on the bed seconds before they were thrown off of the form the sound came from. Another noise, this time something like a growl, came from the same mouth as the morning sun hit a set of squinting brown eyes. Sitting up quickly – one, to get his eyes out of the giant slice of sunlight spilling in over the bed and two, to figure out where he was – Jacen ran his hands over his face repeatedly, rubbing his eyes and running his tongue around his mouth with a scowl. The old, stale taste he detected was not a very welcome one.

“Nnnn…” Looking around the room, it took him a few moments to register the decor, the balcony, the silk sheets, the mask of his from the night before on the nightstand, the half-full glass of water… _the discarded heels at the foot of the bed, the second mask on the ground next to a heap of fabric_ . The burgundy color looked familiar somehow. Was it– _was it a dress_?

Air escaped him in a hiss as his mind attempted to put pieces of the night before together in his head. He remembered trying to show off for the Queen Mother of Hapes with… _however many drinks he had_ , he remembered vaguely threatening one of her suitors downstairs when he heard the man say something not meant to be said in public regarding the Hapan monarch, he remembered seeing the gort eggshell necklace again and he remembered _motioning to the spot in the bed next to him_ – “Ohhhhhh, what… ohhhh no. Wh–wh–” His head hurt _so horribly_.

Snapping his attention to the left, trying to ignore the pain as he shifted his head, he stared down to the empty spot next to him. The sheets were rumpled there too and no time was wasted as he put his hands down along the fabric. Was the spot still warm? It was. “Ohhh…” He made noises he wasn’t even noticing as his head shook back and forth. Did something happen last night? _Did something happen last night and he didn’t remember it because of the booze?_ An uncommon flash of anger lit up in him – leave it to him to come visit his best friend and someone he had a crush on since the days when it was impossible to wash all the Yavin IV dirt off and not remember a damn thing about whether or not _something had happened_.

His attempt at scrambling out of the bed was just as successful as the rest of the morning had been so far. The sheets on him were tangled around his feet in such a knot that he ended up sliding out of the bed onto the carpet headfirst. Another groan sounded from the floor.

Tenel Ka had already been for a run through the gardens, showered, changed into a pale purple sundress and was now drying her hair as she stepped out of the back hallway into the main area of the royal quarters. The first thing she noticed was that there was a Jedi missing from the sheets.

“Solo?”

Hearing a noise from the other side of the bed, she rounded the giant piece of furniture and saw him there, a pile of askew limbs tangled in a sheet, next to her discarded cape and mask from the night before. An amused expression quickly passed over her features as she stared down to him, her hand still rubbing a towel over her hair and her bare feet kicking her shoes from the previous evening away from his head.

“Good morning.”

She could tell the Daruvvian champagne had done a number on him due to how wide his eyes had grown and how dilated his pupils were. It was the only drink she’d ever known that had that effect and it seemed to hit him hard. Throwing the towel on the wooden footboard, Tenel Ka sat on the edge of the bed, her feet dangling inches away from Jacen’s face. She began separating locks of her hair to form into braids and carefully watched him. He didn’t seem to be in any… well, _much_ pain, so that comforted her nerves a bit. He did have way too much to drink though, no doubt about that.

He had been laying on the ground, his cheek pressed into the plush carpeting and his hands lost in the fabric of whatever item of clothing she had dropped on the ground the previous night (or earlier that morning?) when he heard his surname from somewhere and was startled from his daze. Rolling over onto his back, Jacen pressed the back of his head into the rug and tilted his chin upwards, looking at the chambers upside-down. He had watched Tenel Ka enter his field of vision, a welcome lavender-clad, squeaky clean sight even though said sight struck _something_ in chest. Curiosity? Guilt? Fear? Whatever it was, there was a touch of wonder behind it as he watched her seat herself on the bed. If she ever took a husband, he’d wake up to this every morning.

“Are you feeling alright? Do you remember your name?” Tenel Ka’s slightly amused expression returned for a few seconds only to turn into a hesitant smile.

Well, not _this_ , Jacen thought as he reflected on his own personal predicament, but _her_. His eyes moved from her feet, upwards. He could see the shadowed outline of her legs as the morning sun filtered through the thin fabric of her sundress and he could feel a drop or two of water that dripped down onto his skin from her still damp copper hair. Jacen sighed. He could smell the fragrance of whatever she had washed her hair with and he shut his eyes. His thoughts had moved away from wondering what had happened the night before and floated to _what ifs_ instead. What if he woke up to this… to _her_ every morning? He could feel his cheeks flush and he tried to hide it by draping his right arm across his face (a bonus: that also helped with his headache and that damn sunlight) and finally gathering the energy to answer her questions.

“Hi. No. And _Jacen_ ,” was all his dry throat could manage.

Tenel Ka had managed to get through two small braids with the one-handed technique Jacen’s little brother had come up with so long ago before slipping off of the bed and lowering herself to the floor near him. Without thinking, she delicately lifted his head from the ground and placed it in her lap, brushing hair from his face and leaving a light trail of water across his forehead with the fingers that had been working at her braids.

“Good. Well, good that you remember your name, at least.” She lifted his arm from his eyes and moved it to the side, peering at his upside-down face. The way he held his eyes shut, not to mention the dull pain she felt through their connection, let her know that he would probably be resting most of the day, which was fine. He definitely needed it. “The infirmary downstairs should have something that will take care of your head.”

Her hand drifted through his hair and as her fingers hit the skin of his neck, Tenel Ka tensed up. She had never been one for physical contact unless it was with family or extremely close friends. She kissed her parent’s cheeks without thinking, hugged Jaina and Tahiri a number of times when one of them needed it (or vice versa if she needed it - something she never admitted to, but they _knew_ ), pulled Jacen away from trouble countless times when they were younger (he even got a hug or two - after the lightsaber accident were the instances that stood out in her mind the most)… but this was different. He was in pain and she hadn’t hesitated to touch him, knowing it wouldn’t quell it completely but subconsciously hoping it would ease it some. It wasn’t even required. Jacen wasn’t in immediate danger, he wasn’t about to walk into a trap, he wasn’t about to get hit with an amphistaff, he was just lying there on her floor, _hungover_. The warmth of his skin had brought these thoughts to the front of her mind and she pushed them away, hoping he hadn’t picked up on any of it through their bond.

When Jacen turned his face towards the ceiling again, he opened his eyes and saw her looking down at him, the space between their gazes blocked every few moments as her hand passed between them while she brushed his hair from his forehead. He wasn’t tipsy anymore – he was hungover, but not tipsy drunk now – yet he still found himself shifting slightly to press his skin into her fingers when they touched him. He remembered having creatures when he was younger on Yavin IV that would do that to him when he pet them. Animal instinct.

Tenel Ka lowered her voice to a level slightly over a whisper and tried to keep the smile from returning to her face. She was fairly sure that in his current state he wasn’t aware of -- or wouldn’t recall -- the fact she was about to deliver and she was fairly confident about the type of reaction he would have to it.

“You know the masquerade continues for the next _three_ nights, yes?”

The disapproving noise he made – _instantly_ – in response almost sounded inhuman. It continued as he turned his head in her lap, his voice suddenly muffled by the fabric of her dress.

“Noooooooo, no. I forgot. _No_.” More noises. The words, “I can’t do it, Tenel Ka,” were barely recognizable.

“Do not worry about the remaining nights, Jacen. You aren’t required to attend.”

A look of relief washed over his face and faded away moments later as he began to almost nod off, enjoying the feel of her fingers in his hair. Just as he started drifted into a doze though, his head turned in her lap slightly, away from the bed, and he caught sight of her mask again. Pulling himself out of her lap and scrambling to sit up, wincing hard at the sudden pain that flared up in his head, Jacen turned and sat on his knees, his hands planted in the carpet in front of him and his fingers digging into the fibers.

“I’m sorry, I–” He stopped. “What–” He stopped again. “I just want to know–” He stopped and motioned to her mask and the heap of dark red fabric on the ground. “I’m sorry I fell asleep in– _I have no idea what happened last night and I feel horrible_.” His hands lifted from the floor and he began to count things off on his fingers. “I remember drinks. Fruit? I remember the necklace, you still had that necklace I made you and I remember putting it on you. I think I heard the head social secretary? Gadell, yeah. I remember that silver _thing_ they had you wearing at dinner. And the green much better thing you were wearing later. With that other thing.” He pointed to the cape on the floor, mentally letting out a sigh of relief when he remembered _it hadn’t been her dress lying there in a forgotten heap_. “Uh… I’m sorry I messed your bed up. Pretty sure I drooled on the pillows and the sheets smell like booze?”

At least he had taken his boots off.

“I… I don’t know. _I’m sorry_.”

“Jacen, you have nothing to be sorry for. You drank… _a little too much_ … and you slept there last night.” Her eyes moved to the bed behind him for a split second before they shifted back to his face. “That’s it. I’m quite confident you didn’t mess the bed up either. Even if you did it wouldn’t matter. I’ve never slept in it anyways.”

Everything else he had recalled was correct, and as much as he tried to hide his alarm at the night he forgot so much of, Tenel Ka could feel it from him. She had to press her lips together to keep that barely there smile from widening when she realized he thought they might have done _more_ together the night before and was apologizing for _not remembering it_.

Pulling herself to her feet, she stepped towards him and held her hand out to help him up. She knew he just might need a shoulder to lean on for his trip to the infirmary and she wanted to make sure he made it there safely. He was her guest after all. And her best friend.

Taking her hand, he pulled himself up with her assistance and instantly grabbed onto the edge of the bed before standing up straight. His vision was going black.

One heartbeat. Two. _Three_. And then his world was back in color and focus.

Jacen groaned. Sure, he slept all night. But he probably needed to sleep the rest of the day and through the next night to get rid of _that feeling_. “You Hapans sure know your… _drinking_.” He didn’t have the brain power or energy to go further than that.

Another grin tugged at her lips as she led him into the hallway. “Was the bed comfortable?”

Leaning against Tenel Ka for support as they made their way to the infirmary, he made sure he wasn’t putting too much pressure on her. He wasn’t that stick thin scamp that ran around the jungle with her when they were younger. Back then, Jacen had been shorter than Tenel Ka and Zekk were (and Lowbacca, of course). At some point during the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, he realized that when he was holding conversations with people he had to tilt his head downwards at most of them – Tenel Ka was no exception to that. He turned to peer down at her now as they walked (she walked, he sort of rolled with a walk/stumble hybrid) and nodded.

“Oh yeah, that’s a _really_ comfy bed. You’re lucky you get to…” His words stopped as his mind rewound to the floor of her chambers mere minutes before. “Wait, did you say earlier you’ve _never slept in it_? _How long_ have you been the Queen Mother now? _Where do you sleep, Tenel Ka?_ ”

As she delivered a polite smile to any guards or officers (but not courtiers) they passed as they made their way down the corridors, Tenel Ka held her hand at the small of her companion’s back, lightly pushing him in the direction they needed to go at multiple hallway intersections. She had definitely made a note of how tall he had grown. When she saw him on the Holonews after his return from captivity, she marveled even then at how different he appeared physically. He looked stronger, more confident, yet he was still Jacen Solo; lopsided grin, unruly hair, that special Solo brand of sarcasm and all.

His questions came fast, one right after the other, giving her no time to answer them separately in between, a thing for which she was mildly grateful. Tenel Ka slowed them both to a halt in front of the clear double doors of the palace infirmary and picked her words carefully.

“It’s… it’s too much. I don’t need it. I feel like I’m on a miniature version of the Reef Fortress when I sit on it. A tiny island surrounded by deep oceans in the middle of a giant, empty expanse.”

_It’s lonely_ , was the thought that weaved wordlessly throughout her response.

“I have a cot in a room off of the back hallway near the refresher. It’s comfortable enough for me to get a good night’s sleep and it doesn’t take up much space. It’s _practical_.”

Tenel Ka realized that while her words were sliding through her lips, her eyes were roaming almost anywhere but his face. She watched the medics shift around in the room over his shoulder, glanced to the control panel by the door next to him, studied a piece of fuzz on his wrinkled dress outfit that must have come from the carpeting in her chambers while he was on the floor – as long as _she didn’t look him in the eyes_.

Jacen counted the number of places her eyes moved before they settled somewhere. Six in total. And now she was looking at some point where the ceiling met the wall of the corridor. Leaning over the slightest bit, he pushed his way into her view, locking his eyes with hers before she moved them again.

“You don’t _need it_. But you _deserve it_. You put up with _this_ all the time.” He gave a quick nod to their surroundings and then watched as one of the suitors he remembered from the previous evening stroll by, greeting the Queen Mother in the most saccharine voice the Hapan could muster. “And _that_.”

He told himself he wasn’t hearing any longing in her answers, but something was hiding behind them. He could feel some sort of faint sadness through their bond – a feeling that suddenly vanished when he actually went to search it out for a better idea of what it had been. That was the moment he realized he couldn’t feel anything from her anymore. Did she just close off from him? Completely? _She did_.

“ _Your Majesty_ ,” he gasped, his voice suddenly dripping with sarcasm. “How _dare you_.” He put his open palm to his chest and widened his eyes comically before flinching at the pain that caused in his head and dropping his act. “I’m gonna…” Jacen jabbed a thumb behind him towards the infirmary. “Think about it though. _Take a nap on it_.” Backing up, he heard the doors of the infirmary slide open and before passing through them and turning away from her he added. “You deserve it.”


	4. The Second Evening

Fading in and out of sleep for most of the day helped Jacen feel almost normal again. He had left the infirmary when they had finished with him there and slept in his quarters for a bit before heading to the kitchens to grab some lunch. He ate in his quarters and then promptly fell asleep when he was done.

The banquet that night was scheduled to start about a standard half an hour from when Jacen returned to the kitchens to get dinner. He took a different way down to the kitchens, making sure to avoid all the guests streaming in, knowing that they would scoff at him -- dressed in a pair of black lounge-pants and a plain, gray short-sleeved shirt -- not very fitting clothes for a party of _this caliber_. He returned to the guest quarters the same roundabout way and started watching a reality show marathon on the definitely oversized holoscreen in his room.

Part of him felt bad for not attending the banquet and masquerade that night, but he knew Tenel Ka would understand his reasons. He had done enough drinking the night before to last him another six months, in his opinion.

After setting the empty plate from the main course of his meal on the bench at the foot of the bed, Jacen threw his hands up in the air, shaking his head. “Why would you pick _him_? He’s an idiot.” He took a swig of starfruit juice -- non-alcoholic, of course -- and set the glass back on the nightstand beside two other empty juice glasses. “He obviously only wants you ‘cause you’re rich.”

_“We’ll be right back with more of the Galaxy Rendezvous marathon after these messages!”_

Rolling his eyes at the holoscreen he had been yelling at, Jacen slid off of the bed and wandered into the refresher, almost caught off guard by his reflection.

Brown waves of hair stuck out in three different directions, bangs hung in his face, there was a speck of sauce near his mouth from the meat he had finished before moving on to the greens at the other end of his plate, his eyes were still bloodshot and to top it all off, there was a juice stain on the shoulder of his shirt.

“Wow,” he said, nodding. “Good look on you, Solo.”

He was about to step further into the refresher when he heard a knock on his door. It startled him because he hadn’t been expecting anything -- he hadn’t ordered anything up to his room from the kitchens and all of the acquaintances he had who were also on Hapes attending the masquerade were downstairs in the main hall, attending said masquerade.

Jacen quickly licked the stray spot of sauce from his face and moved to the door, pressing the control panel and watching the door retract into the ceiling to reveal a silhouette, backlit from the bright glow panels in the corridor beyond. The first thing he noticed about the silhouette was the height, the second was the lack of left arm and leaning a bit to his left, he let the only slightly helpful glow from his holoscreen fall onto the person at his door, to determine if his eyes were playing tricks on him or if the person at his door was--

“Good evening, Jacen.”

“Your Majesty.” His voice was quiet and he hadn’t even hesitated responding after she spoke, even though he found himself distracted by the way the blue gown she was wearing sparkled in the light from the holoscreen. The mask in her right hand matched the gown and his gaze moved up her wrist and past her elbow to sturdy swirls of silver that clasped around her upper arm. The jewelry was almost hidden under a drape that fell from her shoulder, which was made of a heavy black fabric and dotted with countless silver specks. It reminded him of deep space. Pulling himself out of his reverie, he quickly brushed his fingers back through his hair a few times to hopefully get it somewhat presentable and then he pushed his shoulder up a bit, tilting his head to the same side in an attempt to hide the juice stain on his shirt. “ _Hey._ ”

“I just came to see how you were doing.”

“Shouldn’t you be downstairs at the party?” He leaned to the side, gazing over her shoulder down the hall. “Aren’t you gonna get in trouble with Gadell?”

“I am the Queen Mother. I get in trouble with no one.”

“Unless you want to,” Jacen chuckled.

She dropped her chin to her chest right after the words left his mouth and he could have sworn he caught a smile before he couldn’t see her lips anymore. He also thought her cheeks might’ve grown a little red, but that could’ve been a trick of the dim light still spilling on her from the holoscreen.

“Exactly,” she said, finally looking back up at him. “How are you doing then? Feeling better?”

“Yeah, definitely. I’ve been sort of… napping off and on all day. My head feels better and I can walk in a straight line, so that’s good.” He nodded as he said that, forgetting that his chin was conveniently hiding the juice stain on his shirt.

“Glad to hear it,” Tenel Ka said, spotting the stain right away. She attempted to keep a slight grin from her face and moved her eyes up to his. “I guess I should…” Her chin lifted and dropped, a nod signifying her imminent departure. She didn’t move though.

“You don’t want to go back down there, do you?” Jacen crossed his arms over his chest, the usual lopsided grin seizing his lips.

Tenel Ka couldn’t help but smile at that -- he could read her too well, he knew her too well. He was the only one.

“No,” she whispered. “Not really. I mean, dinner’s over and everyone is dancing and drinking and the only person who has probably noticed my absence is Gadell. And maybe some of the courtiers.”

“I’m sure _all_ of those guys are noticing your absence. All they do all night is try to get in your good favor, right?”

She nodded slowly, a sighing passing through her lips.

“I mean, _I_ would notice if you were absent.” The grin hadn’t left his face but faltered momentarily when he started speaking his next words, wondering as he was speaking them if it was something he would regret. Would he get in trouble? Would she turn down the idea because--? “Wanna come in?”

He watched the tiara on her head catch the light from the hallway as she glanced behind her and down the corridors around them. A satisfied expression crossed her features and she pulled a comlink out from down the front of her dress -- the only place she could keep one on her in that gown. Jacen found his cheeks growing warm from that quick action and he looked down at the ground as she spoke into the comlink, running his toes along designs in the carpet.

“Tell them I drank a little too much and I’m in my quarters resting off this headache.” She caught his gaze when he finally managed to pull his head back up and raised both the corner of her lips and her eyebrows. “I’ll be back… at some point.” As she said those words, her and Jacen both shrugged together and he grinned widely at her.

When she snapped the device off, she dropped it back down into the low neckline of her gown and sighed contentedly. “And the party can go on without me.” A pause as she glanced down the corridors again. “Yes, I would. Thank you for the invitation. I’m quite sure this is a _much_ better party than the one going on downstairs.”

Jacen moved aside, giving her space to enter and said as she passed him, “Much better company than the one downstairs, definitely.”

She said nothing, but he could feel a sudden and welcoming warmth through their connection.

“Sorry about the... _debris_ ,” he laughed, almost regretting inviting her into his quarters. “It looks like… a messy bachelor took over this guest room. Sorry.”

“You mean a messy bachelor didn’t take over this guest room?” Tenel Ka tossed him a sly sideways glance.

“ _Ouch_ , Your Majesty.” Jacen put both of his hands over his heart, pressed the panel for the door to slide shut and then moved over to her. “Do you want me to take your… cape thing? And your mask? Nothing you’re wearing looks comfortable so, I’m trying to help here.”

She handed him her mask and unclasped the drape from her shoulder, laying it over his outstretched arm. Bringing her hand up, Tenel Ka pinched the silver tiara that sat on the crown of her head and yanked it a couple times, finally pulling it loose. The combs that were helping to hold it in place pulled at her hair as she removed the crown, leaving a few locks of red-gold to hang around her face, suddenly displaced from the perfect style that had been created for her that evening.

“You can take this too,” she said, handing him the tiara. “Have you actually _left_ your room today?”

A nervous chuckle sounded from him as he gently set the mask and tiara on the table along the wall by the door, shifting a vase of flowers over a bit to make room. “I went out… on my balcony.” Folding up the heavy drape, he set that down beside her other items and turned around to find her still standing in the same spot, staring at the holoscreen.

“Uh, make yourself at home. I mean, it _is_ technically your home after all,” Jacen crawled up onto the bed and sat cross-legged in the very center of it, grabbing the control for the holoscreen and preparing to change the channel. He paused though, watching her as she wandered over to the bench at the foot of the bed and sat down on one end of it, his dirty plate from dinner sitting at the other. Sliding forward, he picked up the plate and put it on the bedside table, beside the juice glasses. The dishes clanged together as he pushed the plate far enough onto the wood surface so it couldn’t fall and break. He was about to make a comment about how there had to be somewhere more comfortable for her to sit, but he didn’t want to push his luck. She left a giant party to check on him. She left a giant party with overflowing drinks and delicious desserts to sit in his disgusting mess of a room -- dirty dishes, dirty clothes, dirty _him_ (he just remembered, at that moment, that he hadn’t taken a shower since the day before) -- even though the decor of the room was Hapan and therefore “perfection”, it still managed to look like _an absolute pit_ yet there she sat in front of him. The most powerful woman in the sixty-three planet cluster he was currently visiting, looking radiant (and extremely clean), her eyes bright, her full lips painted a dark red and her dress shimmering the dim light from the holoscreen. How -- of all the beings in all the towns and stars and planets and systems -- did he manage to get lucky enough to meet her when he was younger? How did he get lucky enough to get so close to her when so many others couldn’t?  

He hadn’t even been paying attention to the holoscreen, he had been too busy staring at _her_ _paying attention to the holoscreen_. When he saw a grin spread across her face and heard her speak, he snapped out of his trance.

“Oh, Jacen. I love this stupid show. It is _such trash_.”

Jacen had opened his mouth suddenly to make an excuse about how it _had been on when he turned the holoscreen on_ and how he _wasn’t really paying attention to it_ until he processed what she had said. “Seriously?”

“Galaxy Rendezvous? Are you kidding? _Very_ guilty pleasure.”

“Well then,” Jacen said, tossing the control on the bedside table with the dishes. “Looks like I don’t need this.”

A faint gasp sounded from the foot of the bed. “Is this _a marathon_? When did it start?”

Jacen laughed. “They’ve only shown two episodes so far and the season usually has--”

“Twenty-six,” she finished, nodding. “When you get sick of me hanging around your bachelor pad you let me know and I’ll return to my own quarters to continue watching. I missed a lot of these episodes.”

“When I get sick of you?”

She nodded absently, staring up at the holoscreen as the show’s dramatic music cut in -- _overly_ dramatic music.

_Why would I get sick of you?_

He knew she picked up on the question because she shrugged. His thoughts drifted around the next question, wondering if he should ask it, but he hadn’t realized that she had already picked up on it. Jacen thought all her attention was on the show, but when the words: _Why don’t you come sit up here where it’s more comfortable?_ \--slid through his head, she turned to look back at him.

“Up there?”

“Uhm… yeah, yes.” Jacen scooted to his right, leaving the left side of his bed disheveled and open. He watched her stand from the bench and he used the moment it took her to round the bed to lean over and flick a crumb off of the sheets, quickly straightening up as she sat on the edge of the mattress. “Can you even-- Tenel Ka, do they always make you wear dresses you can’t move in? _Force_ , look at that.”

She had pushed herself back on the bed and carefully turned to face the holoscreen, slowly pulling her legs up onto the bed. The bottom of the gown was tight all the way down her legs and the train of it still hit the ground even when her legs were both on the bed. “Being the Queen Mother has its perks,” she deadpanned.

Jacen laughed, his eyes moving from where she tried to situate herself comfortably against the pillows down her gown to her feet, which were clad in a pair of black heels that had to be--

_“How tall are those?”_

“Four standard inches.” She looked amused at his wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression. “Jacen, this is nothing.”

Without hesitation he reached out, gangly arms brushing the gown against her legs, and pulled the shoes off of her feet, throwing them on the ground with his dirty clothes. “Sorry, they just look painful. Stretch your feet, relax. You’re already in a cocoon.” He motioned to her dress. “I mean, it’s a very pretty and shiny cocoon, but still.”

He saw her toes wiggle and felt a smile tug at his lips.

They watched an episode together almost in complete silence except for when they both disagreed on the choice of beings that the main contestant chose to keep at the end of the episode. When the commercials started he looked over to her.

“You’re not too disgusted by my bachelor pad to leave yet?”

“You’re not sick of me yet?”

 _Never_ , he thought.

If she caught that thought she hid her reaction well, her face suddenly falling after a moment. “I should have brought up some dessert.”

“I can comm down to the kitchens.”

The way her eyes lit up made him turn towards the bedside table on his right, pressing the panel and speaking into the comm system above it. “Hi, yes, I’m in the Divora Residence. I was wondering if I could get two pieces of the citros snow cake they’re serving at the masquerade downstairs? I wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t make it to the festivities tonight but I don’t want to miss out on that cake. I hear it’s…” He turned around to stare at Tenel Ka while he spoke. “...spectacular. Yes, two pieces. Why? Uh…” Brandy-brown eyes widened at the Queen Mother who puffed her cheeks out and shrugged. “I want one to eat and one to admire. Since it was made on Hapes I’m sure it’s a beautiful sight to behold and I want to make sure I can enjoy it with both my taste buds and my eyes.” He paused, pasting a dopey grin on his face. “ _At the same time_.”

Tenel Ka covered her snicker with her hand, nodding and trying not to chuckle so loud the comm would pick it up since he was _the only one assigned to his quarters_.

“Yes, Divora Residence. Thank you.” Jacen removed his finger from the panel and laid back on the pillows behind him, his head resting against the giant headboard. “Leave it to Hapes to have sixty-three planets and then a guest room named after _each planet_.”

“Forty-six of those guest rooms are filled right now, you know.”

Jacen blew a breath between his lips and shook his head. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“Do what?”

He waved his arm around. “All of it. This and that. Like I mentioned this morning. Hey, speaking of--” Jacen narrowed his eyes and studied her features. “Did you take a nap on the bed in the royal chambers like I said you should?”

“Not yet.”

“Are you going to?”

“I don’t know, Jacen. I told you-- tiny islands, deep oceans. It’s too much for me. The sleeping pallet is fine.”

“Oh, Your Majesty. What are we gonna do with you?” Jacen clicked his tongue and shook his head as he settled into the pillows to start the next episode of Galaxy Rendezvous.

At the halfway mark of that episode, during a commercial break, there was a knock at the door. Jacen crawled over Tenel Ka’s legs, his feet attempting to hit the ground without stepping on the train of her gown that was still spread out there, and made his way into the small foyer area. He ran a hand back through his unruly dark hair and swiped his finger across the control panel by the door, which promptly slid open to reveal a man with a tray holding two plates.

“If you’ll _pardon me_ , Mister Solo, I can come in and put these on the dining table for you.”

“Oh, no. No. Don’t worry about that, it’s fine.” Jacen reached forward and snatched the plates off of the tray before the man could protest. “Thank you, thank you for bringing these that was very nice of you these look delicious thank you--” He kept talking so the man _couldn’t_ protest and quieted himself only when his elbow hit the control panel and the door slid shut.

When he reappeared in Tenel Ka’s field of vision, Jacen could see that a smirk was playing on her lips. Grinning, he delivered a haphazard bow and attempted his best Hapan accent.

“Cake, _Your Majesty_.” He set the plate down on her midsection and rounded the bed to crawl back up onto his side, balancing his plate in his hand until he situated himself.

The both ate their cake, talking to the holoscreen when someone made a bad decision and laughing when someone made a _really_ bad decision. Jacen had wadded up a napkin and threw it when the host announced there’d be a cliffhanger until the next episode, which they both were able to watch instantly due to the marathon.

Tenel Ka’s mind was nowhere near the party downstairs, even though she was still encased in the gown she was supposed to wear for it and could see her mask, tiara and cape sitting over on the table. Her full attention was present, some of it on this horrible, guilty pleasure of hers that played on the holoscreen, but most of it was on the one she was enjoying the horrible, guilty pleasure with -- the man who had been through so much, but apparently still found time to come visit. He was a galactic hero, he could be anywhere in the galaxy, with anyone, doing all kinds of things, but here he was, sitting beside her, rich eyes wide and hands thrown up in the air because his favorite contestant just got booted, all with a small smear of citros frosting on his chin.

“Jacen…”

“Why would they kick him off?! He actually _liked her for who she was_ why would she--”

He stopped mid-sentence when she reached up and wiped her pointer finger across his skin, under his lips. She pulled her finger back to show him the orange frosting and raised her eyebrows. “Were you saving this for later?”

“Maybe _I was_.” He paused. “Just wipe it on my shirt, it’s already dirty anyways. Juice stains, I’m sure I drooled on it while I was sleeping--”

“Where are the napkins? Did you throw them all at the holoscreen?” Tenel Ka pushed herself forward, against the protests of her gown, her eyes scanning the bed by their bare feet while her finger still hovered in the air near his face. Her gaze stopped the search for napkins when she felt a hand close around her wrist and when she looked back to ask Jacen what he was doing, she saw him lick the frosting off of her finger.

Arching an eyebrow at him and slowly sitting back, she kept her arm out, as his hand was still around her wrist.

“ _Told you_ I was saving it for later.”

Tenel Ka forced herself to keep a laugh inside while trying to stop a smile from forming, but neither of those things happened as a chuckle escaped with an exhale. She shook his hand off of her wrist and reached forward, rubbing the wet spot where his tongue touched her finger slowly down the front of his shirt.

“ _Told you_ there was drool on it,” he murmured.

Covering her face with her hand, Tenel Ka actually began laughing and shaking her head.

“Are you mad because I _told you so,_ Your Majesty?”

She leaned over and pushed his shoulder, still laughing enough to the point where she couldn’t speak.

“Really? Is this _all_ I had to do when we were at the academy to get you to laugh? Lick frosting off of your finger and talk about how much I drool when I sleep?”

Tenel Ka pushed him again, still trying to suppress chuckles, and this time he grabbed her wrist again and pulled her a little closer to his side of the bed. She tried to shake his hand off once more and turned slightly to get more leverage and that was when they heard a sound that caused them both to freeze, wide-eyed stares locked together, like they had been caught doing something stupid at the academy when they were younger.

It was a _rip_.

And when Tenel Ka turned and looked down, and Jacen leaned over and followed her gaze, they both saw that she made a giant slit up the side of her dress, the sparkly blue fabric parting to reveal her legs, still as toned as they were at the academy. Her skin looked smoother than it did then though, less nicks and bug bites from adventures in the jungle, less _dirt_.

“Whoops,” Jacen whispered.

He was surprised to hear Tenel Ka chuckling again and he watched as she tried to compose herself, settle back against the pillows behind her again and throw him a sidelong glance. Jacen could tell she was much more comfortable now that she could move her legs though, her left was bent at the knee, foot planted on the bed and the right was crossed over it, bouncing slightly.

Three more episodes passed and Jacen found himself stealing glances at her legs every now and then. His _excuse_ was that they were right next to his view of the holoscreen -- his _reason_ was that he was still in a slight shock that she had remained up here for so long. The Queen Mother of Hapes. In the debris-filled, dirt-pit he turned the Divora Residence into. Well, it wasn’t _that_ bad, he admitted, but she was the _Queen Mother of Hapes_.

Two episodes after that, he realized he was the only one still talking to the holoscreen and when he turned to his left, he saw Tenel Ka on her side facing him, fast asleep. Jacen watched her for a few minutes, the show continuing on without him in the background, and then felt a sudden wave of concern as he saw her comlink laying on the bed next to her. It had fallen out of her dress when she turned over.

With an amount of concentration he probably hadn’t applied since the war ended, Jacen picked up the comlink and gently pushed it back into the low neckline of her dress, his fingers accidentally brushing her skin as he pulled his hand back. She stirred briefly -- a few seconds that felt like hours to Jacen, who sat through her movement with intense worry stamped all over his features. He slowly slipped off of the bed and rounded it, grabbing her cape, tiara and mask from the table on the way then stuck the tiara in his back pocket and the mask under his arm.

As carefully as he could, Jacen slid his arms under her body and lifted her, cradling her against his chest. He hoped the corridors were empty -- everyone either still partying or passed out in their beds -- and he shifted to the entrance, knocking the panel to open the door with his elbow. Expanding his senses, he reached out with the Force, mentally stretching down the corridors from the Divora Residence to the Royal Bedchamber. There were six corridors and one set of stairs he had to traverse, quickly enough that no one would find him, but softly enough that he didn’t wake her. If she knew the trouble he was going through, she would’ve called him ridiculous and said that he should have just woken her up.

 _It’s no trouble at all though_ , he thought, as he watched her head loll to the side, resting against his arm. Jacen felt a smile cross his face as he set out towards her quarters, the grin staying there even when he almost got caught by two guards patrolling the hallways. When the entrance to her room was in sight, he began walking a little faster, his mind running through a plan on how he was actually going to get into the Royal Bedchamber. He hadn’t thought that far ahead.

His internal debate came to a screeching halt though, when the Queen Mother’s head social secretary appeared from the archway over the entrance to her chambers.

“ _Jacen_ ,” he said, drawing it out and seeming to somehow put emphasis on every single letter of his name.

Jacen opened his mouth to explain when Gadell Vessau kept him from doing so with a hiss.

“ _Did you drug her?!_ ”

“ _Seriously_ , Gadell? _That’s_ where you go first? Not _oh she fell asleep, how nice of you to bring her back to_ \--”

“ _What happened to her gown?_ ”

“Gadell, it’s fine, it was an accident. I’m pretty sure she has--”

Gadell made a buzzing sound to cut him off and stood in front of the control panel, ready to put the Queen Mother’s override code in, but he paused, slowly turning his head to look at Jacen over his shoulder.

When Jacen realized why Gadell was glaring at him, he rolled his eyes and turned away from the control panel, his attention suddenly focused on Tenel Ka, who had shifted in his arms slightly and was now resting her right hand on his chest. The door slid open and Jacen looked over his shoulder to see Gadell frantically motioning him inside.

They faced each other, a sleeping Queen Mother between them, and Gadell leaned forward slightly peering out into the corridor before looking back down to Tenel Ka and then up to Jacen. “You are _extremely_ lucky the Queen Mother likes you.” His ice-blue eyes widened slowly. “And you are _extremely_ lucky that I’m _absolutely_ loyal to Tenel Ka.”

Subconsciously, as Jacen listened to Tenel Ka’s closest aide, he tested Gadell’s words, body language and thoughts with the Force, seeing quite easily that he wasn’t lying about being absolutely loyal. It made Jacen like him a little more.

“ _She_ seems to trust you, so _I_ trust that you’ll be a gentleman, put her in bed and go _straight back_ to the Divora Residence, yes?”

“Yes, sir.”

A genuine smile seemed to cross the Hapan’s face. “That sounded good, say it again.”

“ _Yes, sir._ ”

“You’re free to go,” Gadell said, only hesitating a moment before shoving a stiff pointer finger in Jacen’s face, then using it to slowly motion further into Tenel Ka’s chambers towards her bed.

Jacen nodded, pulling his face back as Gadell’s hand flew away from it, then the Hapan man tossed a glance up and down the corridor and set off towards the easternmost hall at a brisk pace.

Turning back to stare into the darkness, Jacen stepped forward a few feet before speaking at a level that was hopefully loud enough for the room to pick up without waking the woman in his arms. “Lights.”

A dim glow filled the chamber and the first thing Jacen’s eyes went to was the spot on the giant bed where he had passed out. He crossed the room, toes digging into the soft carpet as he moved, and slowly shifted so he could set her down on the bed.

Jacen froze and pulled her back to him then wandered into the hallway where the refresher was located. Peeking into a door next to the refresher revealed a simple sleeping pallet with a short nightstand beside it. There was a glow lamp on the nightstand, along with a datapad and a few of the ties she would put in her hair on occasion, when she just wanted to keep it out of her face.

Stepping over to the sparse set of furniture that the small room held, Jacen peered over her body, studying where she slept. _It’s practical_ , she had said. It was just like the girl he grew up with, the girl that sat in his dirty room next to his dirty self all night, the girl that spent time with him -- and seemingly enjoyed it -- Force knows why. It was just like the Queen Mother of Hapes.

With an exhale that could easily pass for a chuckle, he gently set her on the cot, carefully pulling his arms out from under her body. He moved the cape that was draped over his arm, setting it next to her on the cot, and placed her mask and tiara beside the lamp.

Pulling the blanket up from the bottom of the pallet, over the makeshift slit in her dress, he let it settle at her waist, then hesitated two heartbeats before lightly brushing hair away from her forehead and planting a kiss there.

“I’ll let you know who wins,” he whispered in her ear before sneaking back through the palace and slipping back to his own bed.


	5. The Second Evening - Aftermath

Passing through the Hall of Masters late the next morning, Jacen Solo was fiddling with a pocket flap on his jacket when he caught sight of the Queen Mother on the side of the chamber, speaking to one of the officers from the hangars. The conversation seemed calm enough, so Jacen figured nothing pressing was happening -- it was probably about the third night of the masquerade and all the ships of the attendees who weren’t staying on planet needing a place to dock again.

He leaned against one of the white railings that lined the alabas staircase on the north end of the hall, attempting to look casual while she finished speaking to the officer, and tracing the arches above the corridor with deep brown eyes. Jacen actually found himself getting caught in the stonework and marveling at the architecture over his head until he heard a pointed clearing of a throat to his left.

“Hey,” he said, even before looking over at her. When he did finally let his eyes drift down and over, he felt his face flush a bit as pieces of the night before came back to him. Jacen had carried the Queen Mother to her bed and that was only after she was in his bed for _hours_. He scolded himself inwardly for the blush that had crept to his cheeks -- the first night he passes out in her bed stone cold drunk with no memory of almost anything, the second she falls asleep in his surrounded by dirty dishes, clothes, _everything_. He knew he had to move his thoughts away from his mishaps so he pasted a grin on his face and widened his eyes. “Keval won.”

Tenel Ka’s lips pursed and Jacen hurriedly continued his explanation, hoping she actually had been interested in the show last night and he wasn’t just--

“On the show. Galaxy Rendezvous. Last night-- this morning. He uh… Rez picked him. At the end.”

“I knew what you were talking about,” she chuckled softly. “I was hoping it would be him. Rez has good taste then.” She motioned to the south end of the hallway. “Were you headed to the kitchens for lunch?”

He nodded.

“Would you mind if I joined you?”

Jacen attempted to keep the look of disbelief from passing over his face, but he knew he failed. Did she really think he would say no?

“Of course not, _Your Majesty_.”

“Thank you.” She brushed an open palm down his upper arm, a smile crossing her face, before she began to move away from him towards the south exit of the hall. When she turned her head slightly to speak back to him as they walked, Jacen watched a lock of rust-colored hair fall across her cheek, a curl at the end outlining the bottom edge of her full lips. “It will be nice to eat lunch with someone who actually can hold a conversation with me.”

Jacen heard his own voice in his head, a hoot followed by a line of low giggles, as he thought back on all the conversations he had with her on this trip so far. Things like, _Did We Do Anything In Your Bed Last Night?_ or _I Told You There Was Drool On My Shirt_ , and his favorite _Yes, I Just Licked That Frosting Off Of Your Finger_ \-- it was like a holo-album of _The Greatest Hits of Jacen Solo_. He caught himself staring as she spoke and lengthened his stride to walk beside her. “What’s that supposed to mean? Who usually tries to--”

“Who do you think?”

“They annoy you while you’re eating too?”

“Jacen, they annoy me all the time. I’m surprised I don’t step out of the shower to one of them trying to hand me a towel -- or more than one of them fighting over who is going to hand me a towel.”

 “You can get your own towel.”

“ _Thank you._ ”

They walked in silence for a few minutes, Tenel Ka greeting Hapans -- officers and guards alike -- as they made their way to the kitchens, similar to the morning before, save for the fact that Jacen’s head didn’t feel like it was about to explode. He could also walk in a straight line now as well.

“Speaking of thank you…” Her hand moved to her right, to rest on his upper arm again. “Thank you for bringing me back to the royal chambers last night. And thank you, especially, for placing me where you did.” The hint of mirth in her voice was apparent to him, but probably wouldn’t be for many others she interacted with daily. “I thought with all your talk about the bed you would--”

“But I didn’t, because _I know you_.” Jacen turned his head to peer down at her as he spoke, feeling satisfied and thankful waves from her through their bond. He could see her lips barely hiding a smile and he reached over where her hand rested on his arm and gave it a few pats.

“You do. And that is something I’m very grateful for.”

Less than half an hour later they were seated on a cliffside outside of the Fountain Palace, overlooking the city of Chume’dan and eating their lunch together. They talked more about Galaxy Rendezvous and all the ridiculous things that went on during the episodes that aired after Tenel Ka had fallen asleep. Jacen learned that she hadn’t been able to watch the latest season they had been marathoning due to the war and her settling in to her duties as the new Queen Mother, which was completely understandable, but that didn’t mean Jacen wouldn’t poke fun at her about it.

“How could you miss the season _what kind of fan are you_?” 

Tenel Ka smiled slightly as she shook her head and took a bite of the firebud in her hand, pointing the half eaten fruit at him. “Sorry, _Jacen Solo_ , I was busy _trying_ to learn how to run sixty-three planets.”

Setting his empty plate on the grass beside him, Jacen leaned back, resting on his elbows, and turned his head to look at her. She had finished the firebud, had picked up her fork and was now poking around at the greens that were the only thing left on her plate. “Oh please, I’m sure you picked that up in a day or two. You’ve always picked things up quick.”

He watched as her head raised to look at him, wisps of hair floating around her face in the light breeze that lazily moved back and forth over the cliffside. She said nothing, but he could see her eyes moving, her gaze running up and down his face.

“I mean, you always picked things up quick except for, I don’t know, _my jokes_.”

“Maybe that is because your jokes left something to be desired.”

“ _Your Majesty_ ,” Jacen acted offended.

The sun vanished behind a thin cloud and Jacen took his jacket off, spreading it across the grass and laying back, his shoulders and head resting on the fabric. When Tenel Ka put her plate down next to his, Jacen scooted over a bit and motioned with his head to the empty side of his jacket. She hesitated momentarily, peering up to the palace behind them. The wall they were outside of didn’t have many windows and there didn’t seem to be anybody in close proximity to them. Jacen felt a couple guards back around the corner of the building by the entrance they had emerged from, but that was it -- save for the multitude of people far down the cliffside in the city below them, of course.

Jacen closed his eyes as the sun reappeared from behind the clouds and felt her, shuffling up next to him and then settling down beside him. He could feel her left arm pressed against his right, the warmth from her skin trailing from his shoulder almost to his elbow. That might have felt off to anyone else, but with their history and all he knew about her, her lack of the bottom half of her left arm didn’t faze either of them. It had been his fault, after all--

“It wasn’t your fault,” she suddenly said.

A laugh erupted from Jacen and echoed down the jagged stone face of the cliff ahead of them. One of the things he adored about her -- about _them_ , was how in tune they always were with each other. How in tune they _almost always_ had been with each other.

“So when are you gonna be on Galaxy Rendezvous, huh?” Jacen opened his eyes and turned his head to his right, his nose instantly meeting with wavy strands of red-gold that he reached up and shifted away from his face. He could smell whatever she had washed her hair with, just like he had the morning before, and his mind went to that thought again. That some lucky person would be waking up to that smell every morning, that face, those eyes. When she exhaled a chuckle, her tongue slipped out and pressed against her upper lip for a moment. _Those lips_.

“Are you kidding?”

He grinned. “Why would I be? Wasn’t Rez a princess or something? She apparently found love on there. Why couldn’t you? It’d get you away from here for a while, at least. Right?”

“Why do you think I need to find love?” She finally turned her head towards him, thin copper eyebrows raised.

“Well, I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s fine. But--”

“And what makes you think I don’t have Galaxy Rendezvous here?” She waved a lazy hand to the palace behind her. “I have contestants hanging all over the halls here. Why can’t I just have my own show?”

“With them?” Jacen could feel his face scrunch up at the thought. “I didn’t think there was anyone on Hapes worthy of your love, Your Worship.”

“Not usually, there isn’t.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She said nothing.

Jacen steeled himself, wondering if he should push any further. He could feel the slightest bit of agitation through their bond, but he was unsure if he had caused it directly or if something else had crept into her thoughts.

He turned on his right side, propped his head up on his hand and stared down to her. Her eyes had drifted away from the side of her that he rested on and he opened his mouth to ask her what she meant again. The words that came out though, were ones neither one of them had expected, even though the thought had been hanging at the back of his mind since _that day_.

“Tenel Ka, I have a question… about…” Even though the air around them was fresh and rich, Jacen still swallowed a mouthful of a stale taste -- his _nerves_. “About Myrkr.”

Cool gray eyes slid back towards him, meeting his gaze instantly. “Myrkr.”

“Yeah…”

He could see her lips pursed, moving around the slightest bit, forming words that never sounded. He finally heard one word from her, in his mind.

_What?_

“We uh… when I was… when I left with Vergere… there was…” Jacen inhaled deeply, tearing his eyes from hers to look ahead of him and around him, his gaze finally stopping on the spires of a building down in Chume’dan before he continued. “When we got split up I didn’t get a chance to apologize for Vergere sort of… rushing…” His exhale was a sigh with the hint of a shudder and he pulled his brandy-browns back to her face. “I didn’t know if that was just a heat of the moment battle thing or you were worried we wouldn’t see each--”

He felt her fingers in his hair and her lips against his before he could finish. He could also sense an intense rush of passion blossoming in their connection, as if she was suddenly putting everything she had into this gesture, like she was pushing years of emotion behind it. Jacen marveled at the sensation, returning the kiss without trying to seem too earnest. Suddenly, at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to wrap her up in his arms and lay there with her in the grass, reminiscing, talking, kissing -- but it seemed like it was over as soon as it had started.

“I thought I would never see you again,” she whispered after their lips parted, her hand against his cheek and their faces still inches apart. “And I didn’t want to leave it at... at you not knowing.”

“Me not knowing what?” Jacen could hear himself protesting in his head as she pulled back from him and rested back on his jacket, her eyes moving towards the sky above them.

Tenel Ka shook her head absently, her lips thinning into a line.

He wrapped his hand around her left arm, his fingers brushing the skin where it abruptly ended. Jacen was still one of the only people who reacted to her arm like it was nothing -- so many of the courtiers were so obvious when they would purposely not look at her left arm or purposely walk on her right side so they could attempt to take her full arm, or attempt to kiss her hand. She had always figured that even if Jacen hadn’t been involved in the sparring accident, he would still treat her left arm exactly how he did now. It was _part of her as a whole_.

“Tenel Ka…”

His fingers drifted over the skin on her arm again, which had always been sensitive since the accident all those years before, and when she felt his hand linger there, she finally met his gaze again. His dark eyes widened then and that was when Tenel Ka knew she wouldn’t be able to leave without giving him an answer.

As she tried to form the right words, she shook her head again. “I was never good at this sort of thing, Jacen… I just… I didn’t want us to part -- maybe forever -- without you knowing--”

From somewhere in the folds of her tunic came a beeping sound and a sigh tinged with annoyance slipped from her as she pulled her comlink out, sitting up. Jacen sat up seconds after she did and stared out to the city while she spoke.

“Yes?”

“Your Majesty, _someone_ needs makeup and hair for tonight,” a voice instantly recognizable as Gadell’s erupted from the small speaker.

“And who might that someone be?”

“ _Your Majesty._ ”

“I’ll be up in a moment.”

“No games.”

“Gadell, I’ll be _up in a moment_. No games.” She stashed the comlink away and looked at the ground between where they sat. “Sorry, Jacen. I have to…” Tenel Ka pointed to the palace. “We can talk more later.” She didn’t meet his gaze as she stood up.

“I’m coming tonight,” he blurted, before scrambling to complete his thought. “ _To the masquerade_ , I mean. I’ll be there. I’m coming… to the party.” Jacen felt his face flush and he turned to look back down to the city in an attempt to hide it. He fell back to the ground, laying on the jacket and finally looking up to her, hoping his face was a normal shade again.

“I guess I’ll see you around tonight then,” she said, staring down to where he was sprawled on the ground once more. His jacket formed a misshapen olive halo of fabric around his form and she realized her fingers had drifted up to her lips only after her eyes met his again.

Jacen grinned widely at her and then pressed his head back into the jacket so he could watch her -- even though his view was upside-down -- head back to the palace. The pale blue tunic she wore was long and he was almost hypnotized by the way the breeze carried it back and forth, the fabric brushing her ankles here and there. With a contented sigh, Jacen ran his tongue over his lips and rested the back of his head on his jacket again, watching the clouds drift slowly overhead.


	6. The Third Evening

_I guess I’ll see you around tonight then_ had been an understatement. Dinner had ended and between them during the meal, at their table, sat four Hapans, an Ithorian and a Chiss and also between them during their meal, they consumed a little over seven drinks -- Jacen at four and Tenel Ka at three (and a quarter). There had been a small bit of joking over lunch earlier that day about how Jacen wouldn’t be drinking on Hapes again, yet there he was, four drinks deep.

There he was, four drinks deep, in a locked guest refresher down the corridor from the main hall where the music blared, with his hands under two layers of the wine-colored fabric of a skirt, palms running up the smooth-skinned thighs of the Queen Mother of Hapes. There she was, three (and a quarter) drinks deep, seated on the marble sink of the same locked guest refresher, the straps of her wine-colored dress hanging off of her shoulders and her right arm draped around the neck of the man in front of her, while her cheek pressed against his and her lips whispered in his ear.

The drink count was _all off_ after that, as Jacen slowly bent his fingers, letting his fingernails lightly graze the skin of her thighs while he pulled his hands out from under her skirt, then grabbed the almost full bottle of wine that sat on the counter behind her and taking a swig from it. With the bottle in one hand, Jacen stumbled backwards and grabbed her hand with his other, pulling her from the counter and towards the door. He unlocked it by swiping his elbow across the control panel and then opened it the same way, leaning out into the hallway and looking up and down the corridor before whispering back to her, between chuckles, both of them suddenly bolting across the carpeted floor towards the wall of windows, hands still joined as they slipped in between thick floor-to-ceiling curtains.

The hall was already fairly dim. The brightest light was spilling from the main hall where the festivities were taking place -- it was the focal point that night and therefore had the most sparkle -- so the space between the heavy curtains was a shaded area of purple. Their eyes hadn’t even adjusted to the light before Tenel Ka had her arm around him again and her lips against his. He fumbled around behind him, finally managing to set the bottle of wine on the windowsill before pulling his arm back into the curtains and wrapping it around her waist, fingers dancing along her side. His thoughts were hazy again, like they had been the first night when he had imbibed and part of him thought he was hallucinating this whole thing, but he managed to clumsily return her kiss and when he felt her tongue slip past his lips he involuntarily let out something between a whimper and a hum.

He had to be hallucinating this. There was no way they were--

Jacen’s thoughts became one big mess of white noise at that instant, as Tenel Ka herded him back into the wall and pressed her body against his, dark red fabric from the full skirt of her gown sweeping against his black dress uniform as the curtains closed around them. His hands moved to her face, cupping her cheeks as he deepened the kiss they hadn’t broken yet. He could feel her fingers clutching a handful of fabric on his jacket and he found himself so lost in her scent and the sensation of her skin under his hands that he almost didn’t break the kiss when he suddenly felt her fist repeatedly tapping on his chest.

Pulling back from her, he was worried he had done something wrong until he noticed that her eyes were shifted to the side, a calculating expression masking her features. After he froze, he could hear a set of boots clicking down the hallway outside the violet curtains they were hiding in, and Jacen caught her gaze for a moment, wiggling his eyebrows before slowly moving towards the gap where the curtains joined. He nudged his face against them slightly, peeking through the small slit he created, and spotted one of Tenel Ka’s many suitors heading down the hall to the refresher. The way he sauntered down the corridor made Jacen’s face twist into a snicker and he hissed back to the Queen Mother.

“Just one of your _boy toys_.”

Without warning, he felt a slap on his back and he flinched at the sting, trying to keep his chuckles silent. He pressed his lips shut, but couldn’t stop his laughter, causing his cheeks to puff out as he turned back towards her. Her eyes were bright, even in the shade of the curtains, and he kept his gaze locked on them as she took a sip from the bottle of wine they were sharing. Offering it to him after she peeled her lips away from the opening, she waited until Jacen took the bottle and then wiped her forearm across her mouth. He kept his rich brown eyes on her through his sip as well.

Tenel Ka leaned into him, then around him, holding onto his midsection as she peeked through the curtains for a few moments. Jacen saw her nod absently and then suddenly she was gone. He followed her out through the gap in the curtains without hesitation and ran down the hall after her, wine bottle in one hand and fingers of the other pushing hair from his face. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion for him -- something he had experienced the other night after the Daruvvian champagne -- and even though this wine was weaker than the champagne had been, the effect still put him on high alert. The silk of Tenel Ka’s gown billowed out behind her, the fabric forming a cloud in front of him -- dark purple from certain angles and deep red from others. He had been so focused on keeping his eyes on her and the countless wisps of fabric that chased her, it took him a moment to realize that she had led him outside.

The bright moonlight made it easy for him to trail her around her corner, back to the spot where they had eaten lunch earlier that day. The lights from the city floated up the cliffside and those, in addition to the moonlight from the seven moons above, bathed her in an ethereal glow, the fabric of her skirt thin enough that the natural and artificial illumination passed through the fibers with no issue. She had stopped about fifteen standard feet in front of him, turned back and was watching him, her hand up and her palm resting against her neck. Jacen found himself inhaling a deep, shaky breath into his system once he realized that the sight of her -- cheeks flushed from either the wine or their antics, skirt fluttering around her legs in the breeze snaking up the cliffside and hair falling from the pins and ties it had been meticulously set into place with earlier that evening -- Jacen realized that the image of her at that moment in time made him forget to breathe.

He lowered himself, took a swig from the wine bottle and placed it on the ground to his right before he stood and closed the distance between them, gently placing his hands on her hips. It was almost that exact spot they were standing in where their conversation had been interrupted earlier that day. Jacen had the urge to ask what she had wanted him to know before he had been ripped away from her and the rest of the strike team on Myrkr -- what she was about to tell him earlier before her comlink went off -- but he couldn’t get the words past his lips.

She _giggled_ , paused, hiccupped and then giggled again, nodding.

Jacen shot one word through the Force.

_What?_

_I didn’t want you vanishing forever without knowing…_

Tenel Ka sent that thought back to him, the words trailing off in his head as she leaned up, planting a kiss on the corner of his lips, then dragging hers up to his ear. “...how I felt about you.”

Jacen found it easy to slide his arms around her form when she leaned into him and when she spoke, breathing her words into his ear, he found it easy to turn his head and bury his face in her neck. “And how’s that?” He said, his lips moving against her skin.

“How I’ve always felt about you.” She swayed slightly in his grasp and he realized she was moving to the music from the main hall that could very faintly be heard from where they were. Without realizing it, Jacen began swaying with her.

“Which is…”

“Very strongly,” she murmured.

“How strongly?” Jacen laughed, each jovial exhale floating across her neck. “I mean, what kind of feeling did you feel… strongly about me… about…”

She joined his laughter at that point, both of them giggling until their eyes shut and their lips found each other again and Jacen could hear his own voice repeating in his head that coming to Hapes was the best decision he had made in a very long time. His hands moved from her hips up to her waist and she pressed her body against his again, shivering from the night air. Jacen almost broke his lips from hers and asked if she wanted to go back inside, but a loud and pointed cough from the direction of the palace caused them both to freeze for a split second. They pulled away from each other at a speed Jacen didn’t think was possible when they had both had that high of an alcohol intake.

Gadell Vessau stood on the path leading from the palace, arms crossed over his chest and a smirk pasted on his Hapan features. He watched them both for a moment before locking his hands together behind his back.

“ _Good evening_.”

“Gadell,” Tenel Ka said.

“Hey,” Jacen said, at the same time.

“Were you two just… _taking a walk_ and enjoying the _lovely weather out here_?” He began to stroll forward, pausing for a moment to reach down and snatch up the wine bottle Jacen had left on the grass.

“Of course,” Jacen smiled, teeth showing and eyes wide.

“Mmmmm,” Gadell nodded, then turned his attention to Tenel Ka, raising his eyebrows.

“What else would we be doing?” Her lips shifted into the shadow of a smirk and Gadell nodded at her as well, his expression changing into something that seemed to convey _pride_.

“ _This_ sort of thing isn’t supposed to take place until the _fourth night_ of the Marauder’s Masquerade, _Your Majesty_.” Gadell slowly dragged his gaze up and down Jacen, still directing his words towards the Queen Mother. “ _You_ know that.”

She said nothing in response, but did reach out and slide the wine bottle from her social secretary’s grasp, taking a sip from it as she stared straight into his light blue eyes.

“You’re in no state to return to the party tonight, Your Grace. You should rest.” His face showed amusement at her actions -- and that odd layer of pride again -- and he turned his attention to Jacen.

“I trust you can walk Her Majesty back to her quarters?” Gadell tilted his head, definitely catching Tenel Ka’s face flush at his next words. “I already know you are most definitely aware of where her quarters are located.”

Jacen Solo nodded, almost adding that he knew what her bed felt like too, but managed to luckily keep his smart (and drunk) mouth shut when that thought popped up. He was well aware, after Tenel Ka had filled him in the morning after the first night of the masquerade, that Gadell knew he fell asleep in the _royal bed_ but he figured a smug _I know what her bed feels like too_ wouldn’t be welcome at this point. He figured they were already in enough trouble. Tenel Ka was the Queen Mother and Gadell was a social secretary -- a male one on Hapes, at that -- but they had been caught by him, with their hands and lips all over each other, like a couple of silly teenagers sneaking around past curfew. Jacen knew that Gadell was loyal to Tenel Ka and he was one of the only people on Hapes that Tenel Ka could stand, so he wasn’t ready to rock the boat there -- he figured he had already done that enough the night before when he carried a sleeping Queen Mother through the palace halls.

And was caught by Gadell then too.

“Good,” Gadell said. He nonchalantly waved a gloved hand back towards the palace. “Then _go_.”

Tenel Ka had already started off towards the palace, her fingers still clutching the neck of the wine bottle, and Gadell grabbed Jacen’s upper arm, waiting until she was almost around the corner until he looked back to Jacen and started speaking. “I’m _watching you_.”

Jacen nodded quickly. Even through his boozy haze though, he could sense that Gadell wasn’t worried about Jacen necessarily, he was more worried about one of the courtiers inside trying to take advantage of the inebriated Queen Mother as she wandered back to her quarters. He was mildly surprised to find that Gadell _trusted him_.

“She’ll be fine.”

“I know she’ll be fine,” Gadell hissed. “She can take care of herself.”

His words said one thing, but Jacen could still see from the way he was looking after her that he worried.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll make sure she gets back to her room,” Jacen nodded, shaking Gadell’s hand off of his arm and walking away from him backwards to keep their gazes locked as he finished his thoughts. “Don’t worry.” As if to punctuate his words, Jacen tripped over a small grassy knoll, catching himself before he actually fell. His lips formed an over exaggerated grin as he tossed a messy salute to the social secretary. “Everything’s fiiiiiine.”

Gadell rolled his eyes and shook his head, watching Tenel Ka and Jacen until they both disappeared back into the palace.

When he caught up to her, Jacen slowed down his jog and grabbed a handful of the gauzy fabric of her skirt. “Slow down, Princess.”

“ _Princess?_ ” Her head turned back towards him, her face still flushed and eyes still bright, fingers still wrapped around the now almost empty bottle.

As they walked, he pressed the fistful of fabric into the small of her back, guiding her towards the south stairs -- the lesser used ones he had taken to get his food the day before in an attempt to avoid the party guests. “Yeah, _Princess_. I never got to use that one much when we were young since, you know, you _didn’t bother telling us about that for a while_.”

Her bark of laughter echoed in the empty upstairs corridor and she covered her mouth with her wrist. Jacen chuckled at her outburst and scoffed when she pushed him as they moved. “ _Hey!_ ”

Tenel Ka just shook her head.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, _Princess_.”

He watched as she took another swig from the bottle and peered over to him, eyebrows raised, the storms in her eyes making his breath catch in his throat again. Jacen wanted nothing more at that moment in time than to be the person who got to wake up beside her every morning -- _those eyes_.

“Why not, _Solo_?”

With no verbal response, Jacen grabbed the wine bottle from her, took a drink from it and set it on a decorative table against the wall of the corridor where it was forgotten by both of them within seconds as he reached out to grab her and she dodged his hand, laughing and taking off down the hall with a grace and speed Jacen hadn’t seen from her since Myrkr.

She always beat him at races of all types when they were younger -- swimming, climbing, running -- but now, when it came to running, at least -- Jacen found himself catching up to her. It seemed like as soon as their chase started, it was over as she slammed into the entrance of the royal bedchambers and began punching in the code to open the door, Jacen almost running into her. The door slid open just as he caught up with her and he pushed her through it, hearing it slide shut behind them and leaving them in darkness as he guided her back against the wall, pressed his palms against her spine and planted hungry kisses down her jawline. He couldn’t really see her with the lack of light around them, but when he felt her fingers slide into his hair and then wrap forcefully around the back of his neck, he moved his lips to hers, eagerly parting them with his tongue. When she responded by deepening the kiss, she also arched her back, and Jacen could suddenly feel her heartbeat.

Everything seemed to freeze to Jacen and then with no warning it all began to spin out of control.

When he suddenly let go of her and moved back, he could feel her hand drift down from his neck to his chest, not wanting to lose him in the dark. He could sense her trying to get an idea of what happened through their connection.

“Jacen, are you alright?”

“Mmm,” he nodded, blinking rapidly, hoping that this wasn’t going to be another repeat of the aches and pains he experienced the first night. “Mmmhmm.”

“Jacen…”

“Lightheaded. Not nearly as bad as the first night with the champagne but…” He shook his head, experiencing a small bit of comfort when he noticed her hand was still on him. “It was stupid of me to drink again. This much.”

He heard her voice drift to him in the dark, soft and low.

“I’m sorry. It was my fault, I was the--”

“It wasn’t your fault, Your Majesty.”

“Jacen, I was--”

He steeled himself against the pain and turned, pressing a gentle kiss on her lips to interrupt her. His whisper followed. “Tenel Ka…”

A noise sounded from her -- a hum of contentment -- and Jacen mentally picked up on the fact that it was from him saying her name, which was a rare occasion due to his usual sarcastic use of so many of her titles.

Even against the sudden white creeping into his vision, Jacen kissed her again. On the cheek, on the nose, on the lips. “I should let you get to sleep,” he exhaled, between kisses.

“I should let _you_ get to sleep.” Tenel Ka whispered, brushing her hand back through his hair.

Stumbling backwards and hoping she hadn’t caught that in the dark, Jacen fumbled around in the blackness and activated the control panel to open the door, then shut his eyes briefly, trying to will the pain away. It was something he had grown somewhat accustomed to during his time on Yuuzhan’tar, but he always had only that to focus on -- just feeling the pain and ignoring it. He was never faced with a woman like the Queen Mother of Hapes during his time on Yuuzhan’tar. A woman that he wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his life with, a woman _he loved_.

When that admission to himself floated through his mind, he forced his eyes open, his gaze meeting with the face of the woman he just told himself that he loved. He suddenly felt small in front of her, inadequate, not enough for her -- she was fiery, independent, _powerful_. She was his best friend, but she was also the _Queen Mother of Hapes_. Jacen let a defeated chuckle escape him as he backed out of the entrance to the royal bedchambers. What had he been thinking coming to Hapes?

“Jacen…”

Forcing a smile, he raised a hand, waving away her concerns. He could see her in the light that spilled in from the corridor, her cheeks still red and the left strap of her gown still hanging off of her shoulder. He could see the concern in her face and was fairly sure that it was imbued with pity. Maybe she had just been with him the past two nights because he was familiar to her. He was comfortable, she was accustomed to him.

Jacen shook his sudden attack of negativity from his head. It could’ve been the booze speaking up, or the pain -- or maybe it was the fact that somewhere inside of him, he knew he was still insecure around her. As much as he always told himself he wasn’t -- they were best friends, equals -- _he was_.

“Night, Princess,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Goodnight, Jacen.” She approached the large door frame as he backed away from it. “ _Please_ get some rest and feel better. There’s another marathon of Galaxy Rendezvous on tomorrow night and you’re the only one who knows my secret so you’re the only one I can talk to about it.”

Her smile pushed the white back from the edges of his vision and filled him with a warmth that made him wonder why he had been doubting their friendship. But was that all it was and all it could be? There had been too much alcohol consumed between them that night for Jacen to know if anything that happened could be an indicator of where their relationship stood.

Cursing inwardly all the way back to the Divora Residence, Jacen entered his quarters, stripped off his dress uniform and fell into bed, hoping the waves of dizziness and the headache he was experiencing would be gone by morning.

 _Maybe it would be better if_ I _was just gone by morning._


	7. The Third Evening - Aftermath

“Could you give me clearance to take off in a couple of hours?”

Gadell Vessau had been looking down at a console in the hangar, checking on a list of incoming ships for the last night of the Marauder's Masquerade, when he heard a voice behind him. His eyes trailed up from the console for a moment, before the Hapan spun around and came face-to-face with Jacen Solo. He opened his mouth to speak, he even inhaled in preparation for the words -- but he stopped and narrowed his eyes, giving Jacen a quick visual once-over.

Leaning back against the console, Gadell brushed some unruly waves of black hair out of his face and crossed his arms over his chest. “ _Why?_ ”

“I need to leave.”

“Why?”

“Gadell…” 

“Answer my question. You can’t expect me to just give you clearance because you want to take a joyride before the festivities tonight.”

“I’m leaving. I’m not staying for the party.”

The man’s blue eyes finally went from a calculating squint to a wide-eyed stare. When Jacen said nothing, Gadell forced his eyebrows even higher, leaning forward slightly and nodding a bit, trying to push him to explain.

“I… something came up. I have to go.”

The social secretary rolled his eyes and grabbed Jacen’s upper arm, pulling him out of the hangar and towards the gardens. “Take a walk with me, Solo.”

Gadell said it like Jacen had a choice, as he was walking with his fingers clutched around the sleeve of Jacen’s gray top, practically dragging him towards the paths of greenery between the palace and the hangar.

“O--okay.”

When they were in a somewhat narrow stretch between two very long and tall hedges, Gadell stopped, letting go of Jacen’s sleeve and turning his head back and forth, peering up and down the gravel to make sure they were alone. “ _Talk._ ”

“What?”

“Did you and Tenel Ka get in a fight or something?” 

“What? No.”

‘So… you just want to _Something Came Up I Have To Go_ me for no reason then?”

Jacen let out a weak chuckle. “No. I just…” With a deep inhale, Jacen shoved his hands in the back pockets of his black pants. “Drank too much last night, made a fool of myself, pretty sure I’m looking for more from this relationship than Tenel Ka is. I mean… kriff, that sounds _so stupid_ when I say it out loud. But she’s the Queen Mother of Hapes now. She’s always been important to a lot of people, she’s always been really important to me-- now she’s that to millions of people. I’m just… that kid who always told her the horrible jokes and had a crush on her. I mean, I got captured by the Yuuzhan Vong during the war and before splitting up from her and the rest of my friends she-- she was gonna kiss me. Yesterday I asked her why she had almost done that and she said she didn’t want me possibly never seeing her again without her letting me know how she felt. But yeah, that was me and her two years ago. Gadell, I’m still hanging on this stuff from years ago, from before she ran _this_.” Jacen’s hands waved wildly around on either side of him towards the gardens and the palace and everything beyond it. “I just… I need to go before I screw things up more. She doesn’t need me anymore. _Please._ ”

“Well, that’s too bad for you, Wonderboy.” Gadell reached out and brushed the crease in Jacen’s sleeve he had left there after grabbing him. “No ships can leave until the masquerade starts tonight. Too much incoming traffic from now until then -- all the guests coming in who aren’t staying planetside.”

Jacen’s lips parted to protest, but he just let out a defeated sigh. He had already begun planning everything in his brain, right from the moment the sigh escaped his lips. He’d stay in his room the rest of the day, straighten it up a bit to be polite and to keep himself busy so his mind didn’t dwell, pack his things and then leave right when dinner started.

“Look, I’m sorry I just dumped that all on you, Gadell. It’s just a thing that’s been going through my mind the whole time I’ve been here. You didn’t need to hear any of that. I’m an idiot who was just thinking out loud.” Spinning around, Jacen put his back towards Gadell and covered his face with his hands, dragging his fingers down his cheeks and then tilted his chin up, letting his gaze get lost in the wisps of clouds lazily floating above them.

The Hapan slapped his knuckles against Jacen’s back, waiting for him to turn towards him again before he spoke. “You both sound like those people on that stupid show she watches. It’s adorable and _revolting_ at the same time.”

“Hmm? What are you ta--”

“Just… if you really want clearance to leave, I’ll grant it right after dinner, when everyone is settled. But I think you should stay for the last night. And this is me talking to you as Tenel Ka’s friend, not as her social secretary or the person who has to deal with the headache that is the royal hangar during the Marauder’s Masquerade.”

“But--”

“Ah ah,” Gadell held a gloved finger up.

“Gadell--”

“ _Good talk_ , Solo.” He had already turned away from Jacen, boots crunching over the gravel as he retreated back in the direction of the hangar.

Jacen wished he had a credit for every sigh that had already escaped his lips since he had woken up that morning. He had ached so badly -- his head, stomach, _everything_ \-- that he had ended up laying on the cold floor of the Divora Residences refresher. He hadn’t been sure if he was going to get sick, pass out or even survive his second hangover on his trip to Hapes unscathed, so he had just stayed sprawled there for a little over an hour, staring at the ceiling and tracing the high archways.

_Who had archways in their guest refreshers?_

Hapans.

He had managed to shower and get dressed and had also managed to get to the infirmary again, where they were on a first name basis with him thanks to his previous visit.

The fresh air in the gardens felt welcome and _clean_ , and Jacen spent a few minutes wandering around, breathing deeply and trying to clear his mind. He tried to be vague and distant when he went to search out her Force signature, hoping she wouldn’t sense him doing it -- and he found her in the Hall of Masters. Once he knew where she was, he pulled back, not wanting to pry anymore.

Jacen took a different way back into the palace, passing the spot where they had eaten lunch together the day before -- the spot where Gadell had caught them both drunk and necking the night before. His mind went back to lunch (after lingering on the tactile sensations he was actually able to recall from their adventures the night before) and the warm kiss she had given him when he had brought up Myrkr. The thought of that alone made him want to stay and see her again, but he couldn’t stop wondering if that kiss had just happened because it had been unfinished business from then that needed to be tied up. If the Tenel Ka from then wanted to make sure the Jacen from then got everything she had intended before he had been captured.

They were both different people now. Somewhat, anyways. He could still talk to Tenel Ka as easily as he could before the war and it still seemed like he tended to be one of the only people she could be herself around.

Shaking his head, Jacen headed back into the palace. She would be better off without him. She had sixty-three planets to run and a veritable entourage of Hapan men who could offer their Queen Mother more than he could. Sure, most of them seemed like absolute laserbrains, but there had to be one or two good ones in the bunch, right?

He could sense the excitement surrounding the palace that night as guests streamed in for the last, and usually the most indulgent night, of the Marauder’s Masquerade. The air practically buzzed, and even alone in his guest quarters he could feel it. His hands smoothed out a shirt he had folded and he picked it up, tossing it into his bag as his eyes leisurely traveled to the holoscreen where the next Galaxy Rendezvous marathon Tenel Ka had mentioned the night before was starting.

Jacen was about to head into the refresher to grab the items he still had on the counter there when a knock sounded at his door. His breath caught in his throat for a moment. Maybe Gadell was able to get him clearance early.

He didn’t bother sensing who had knocked because he had no expectations of it being the person who was actually standing there when the door slid open.

It was the Queen Mother of Hapes, covered in a full-length cloak of shimmering dark silver fabric. The only part of her outside of the cloak was her head, the hood of the cloak gathering around her neck. Her makeup matched the cloak, except for the color on her lips, which was a deep violet and her hair was down -- voluminous and wavy, copper ends reaching the middle of her back. The only thing taming some of it was the silver diadem that sat around her head, a round emerald set in the front of it. He watched her toss her bangs from her face so that both of her eyes could meet his.

“Gadell told me you were leaving.”

“Don’t you have a banquet to be attending, Your Majesty?”

“I’ll get there. I wanted to see if what Gadell said was true first.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m gonna head out as soon as I’m able to get clearance.”

“Why?” Tenel Ka could see him gulp when she asked that one word, his jaw clenching, the motion slow and deliberate.

She could feel his hesitation. She had felt his discomfort all day through their connection but she hadn’t prodded him about it, through the Force or in person. She hadn’t even seen him since the night before. Technically, earlier that morning -- _way_ earlier. Tenel Ka knew he hadn’t felt good because of the wine, but he suddenly seemed so off when he left her quarters and in the back of her mind, all day, she had worried it was something she had done.

When he said nothing, she leaned slightly to the right, catching his gaze that had wandered off to some point on the carpet. “Can I come in?”

He nodded and moved aside, the door sliding shut behind her. Jacen could see her staring at his almost completely packed bags that sat on the bed.

“So,” she started, finally turning to face him. “It is the last night of the masquerade.”

“Mmmhmm.” Jacen said, returning to his bags to pack while she spoke.

“And tradition says that the last night of the masquerade is when the Queen Mother has to pick a courtier for the evening, to _join her_.”

Jacen shoved a jacket into his bigger bag and reached over to the bedside table to get his datapad. “For dancing and drinks and stuff? Is he her arm candy for the rest of the party?”

She hummed an agreement, then inhaled, sighing out the breath. “The rest of the night too. Tradition states that he joins her in bed also.”

“ _What?!_ ” Jacen tossed his datapad on the bed and whipped his head to his left, brandy-brown eyes sharp -- set in an expression that was a balanced mixture of disbelief and disgust.

Tenel Ka’s nod was slight, her face -- sardonic and her voice -- _quiet_. “You heard me.”

“What…” Jacen stopped, gaze shifting back and forth as he internally debated which part of this he wanted to pick apart first. His curiosity about her specifically won out, a fact that didn’t surprise him in the least. “What have you done the other years for the last night since you became Queen Mother?”

Her smile became genuine. “Gadell dresses up in the colors of one of the Hapan noble houses, wears a corresponding -- and overly-decorated mask so no one recognizes him -- and then I pick him.” She paused. “And we go to my quarters and drink and play pazaak until the sun comes up.”

His laugh was honest, too. The mental image he got from her words amused him and he nodded, leaning against the edge of the bed. “Wait, is that what Gadell meant last night when he said that this sort of thing isn’t supposed to happen until the fourth night? He was talking about all this?”

“Fact.”

With a shake of the head at _Hapan tradition_ , Jacen tilted his head, a polite smile gracing his features with his next question. “So is he getting ready right now then?”

“No.”

His eyebrows raised in an inquiring fashion.

“I was actually hoping to choose someone this evening.”

The instant those words passed her lips, Jacen had to fight to keep his face blank. His eyebrows stayed raised and he began gnawing on his bottom lip. “Oh? Really? _Which house?_ ”

His string of questions came out a little more caustic than he intended them to, but the first thought at her words had been that she had just been toying with him since he got there to get used to the _companionship_ \-- to warm herself up for spending time with someone alone.

Jacen knew that was nothing like her, and she would never do that. This was his best friend, right? That little nagging voice in his head wouldn’t leave him though and he could feel himself chewing through the first layer of skin on his lip as he waited for an answer.

Tenel Ka could sense his sudden flare of… was that envy? Displeasure?

She shifted, her cloak catching the light from the holoscreen, and her right hand snaked out from an unseen opening in the fabric, where it moved to the decorative table by the door and picked up the mask that had been left for him in the Divora Residence. “I do not know yet…” She set it on the bed next to his bags and straightened, slipping her hand back into her cloak. “I was hoping someone would catch my eye tonight.”

Backing away towards the door, Tenel Ka smiled faintly. “Dinner has started, so Gadell could most likely get you those clearance codes now. Thank you for visiting, Jacen, and I’m sorry to see you leaving so soon.”

Her eyes flicked to the holoscreen behind him momentarily, the overly cheesy theme song to Galaxy Rendezvous wrapping up as she slipped out of the Divora Residence.

Right when the door shut behind her, Jacen turned and looked down at his mask. His eyes traced the flourish of green and purple feathers along the curve at the top and he found himself mentally trying to locate all of the pieces to the other dress uniform he had brought with him on the trip to Hapes.

 _“Will she find love? We’ll find out tonight on_ **_Galaxy Rendezvous_** _!_ _”_

“Oh, _shut up_ ,” Jacen snapped at the holoscreen before digging in his bag to find his clothes.


	8. The Fourth Evening

Throughout dinner, Tenel Ka Djo had eaten in silence. Not that there wasn’t noise around her, no, there was a cacophony surrounding her. But she didn’t really speak to anyone, her eyes absently kept moving to the seat _he_ had occupied at dinner for two of the four nights and she hadn’t really been registering the taste of anything she was eating or drinking.

All she felt through their connection was a dull buzz -- she could feel _him_. He was well. _Alive_. But she could usually feel that. She couldn’t tell where he was now though, which made a knot form in her stomach. He had left. It was so hard for her to get away from Hapes and she _had him there with her_ \-- the one thing she wanted to escape Hapes to be with and _see_. And now he was gone.

As dinner ended, Tenel Ka took her place at a dais set at the front of the main hall and welcomed everyone to the final night of the Marauder’s Masquerade. Everyone cheered as she slipped her mask over her face, then glasses clinked and the music started. Gadell approached her, hands out, and gently pulled her cloak off of her shoulders, resting it over his forearm. He almost retreated to set the cloak over her chair, but stopped when Tenel Ka grabbed his shoulder and leaned in close, speaking in his ear over the music.

“You should probably go pick a house to be a part of tonight and change--”

She stopped speaking when he turned, locking eyes with her, and shook his head, his lips obviously fighting a smile. Was he leaving her to the suitors tonight? Really?

_Tradition be damned then, I’m not picking anyone._

Tenel Ka wanted to ask him why he was refusing their usual masquerade dodge this year, but he had already begun sifting his way through the crowd. She heaved a sigh and went to step from the dais, her foot barely hitting the ground before two courtiers were in front of her, both asking her to dance and sneering at each other. They were both wearing masks, but by the colors of their outfits and their mannerisms, she knew exactly which two suitors they were.

Putting her hand out in front of her, she figured whichever man grabbed it first would head up the list of people she forced herself to dance with that night. She had to keep up appearances after all, and that thought caused her to just manage to keep a grimace from her face. Weren’t parties supposed to be _amusing_?

Her mind drifted as she danced, an endless line of masked partygoers cutting in and talking her ear off about how wonderful she looked and how graceful she acted and so on -- which made her snicker internally, since most of them were all talk. She could sense their true intentions. Not one that she had danced with yet that evening was a person that was genuine. Hapes usually didn’t produce very genuine people, sadly. Gadell Vessau seemed to be an exception and she was very thankful for him.

Tenel Ka’s eyes had glazed over as she danced, staring over the shoulder of the man she was moving around the floor with, who was feeding her empty compliments and talking about how amazing of a consort he would be -- another person cut in and Tenel Ka didn’t even move her eyes to him, she just forced a polite smile, like she had with the rest of them.

Something was different about this one though. His aura was peculiar when compared to the others, she could sense that he wasn’t just there hoping for status and wealth and power. He hadn’t flinched when the stump of her left arm went on his shoulder where her hand would’ve been, his right hand on her waist was gentle, his fingers barely tapping on her side and the way his left hand held her right felt natural.

Focusing her eyes, she shifted her gaze to the man’s face and was pleasantly surprised to see a black mask with green and purple embellishments and a pair of brandy-brown eyes so familiar to her that she almost buried her head in his chest and laughed. He caught her faint smile though, because his usual lopsided grin seized his lips in response and she felt her heart speed up at the sight of it.

_You never left._

_How could I?_

“You were ready to a couple hours ago. I saw you packing.”

“Yeah, well, _I’m an idiot_.”

Tenel Ka’s smile was still apparent as she shook her head. “You are not.” When she finally tore her gaze from his, she threw a glance down to his body. He was in a dress uniform she hadn’t seen yet and the dark green of the jacket matched his mask almost perfectly. She got lucky in that case--

“Did you--”

“I picked out your mask, yes.” Tenel Ka looked back up to him. “Does it fit your standards?”

“ _I guess_.” He released a melodramatic sigh and rolled his eyes.

They both breathed out quiet chuckles, sweeping around the floor as the music continued. Tenel Ka saw Gadell out of the corner of her eye and kept her gaze on him as they twirled, her head moving with his stationary form. When he caught her looking at him, he scrunched his face up and shut his eyes, repeatedly kissing the air in a childish fashion. When he grinned and opened his eyes back up, he could see her smirk from across the chamber.

The masked stranger became the talk of the night and many of the suitors seemed furious that _this person_ had just come in and was spending so much time with _their Queen Mother_ when he didn’t even seem to be from one of the Hapan noble houses. If they hadn’t been imbibing -- just like most of the people attending that night (and all the other nights) -- some of them might have recognized him as Jacen Solo; a very close friend of the Queen Mother’s and the man that they had been snickering at since he arrived for merely spending time _near_ her.

Many of the courtiers began to drink even more when Tenel Ka Chume Ta’ Djo took the dais, told the attendees to have a wonderful night and enjoy themselves, and then grabbed the hand of the masked stranger and held it in the air for everyone to see. She had to show him off before leaving with him, _as the tradition stated_. The sea of masked guests went wild, cheering and applauding, and parted for their Queen Mother, who had to use all of her willpower not to sprint from the room.

When they emerged from the main hall and hit an adjacent and smaller corridor, her _arm candy_ spoke up.

“Hey, stop for a second.”

Tenel Ka slowed and turned to face the man she had pulled from the masquerade, who had backed up a couple of steps and was staring at her, the dim lights of the hallway sliding across the sparkling thread in his mask.

“What?” She said.

He shook his head and held his hand up, waving it absently before crossing his arms over his chest.

Jacen Solo almost felt silly, but he hadn’t had a good chance to see her in the main hall. He hadn’t been present for dinner, or her speech when her cloak had come off, and they had been surrounded by people once he found her on the floor. He figured her gown on the last night of the masquerade would be the most impressive -- and it was. A low cut dress in a deep purple Hapan silk, the bottom hem of the full skirt sweeping the floor and a slit on her right side up to her thigh -- he could see the skin of her leg peeking through the gap in the fabric and the heeled sandals she was wearing had crisscrossing straps up to her knees. 

“ _Jacen…_ ”

“Shhh…”

He pulled his gaze up from the ground and spotted her mother’s emerald ring on her finger, a matching gem set in a silver chain around her neck and another in the diadem that circled her head, which he recognized from earlier and only saw when she slowly pulled her mask off to make sure he saw the questioning raise of her eyebrows. Her cheeks, that the mask had been covering, were flushed the slightest bit and her eyes were rimmed in a dark silver that matched the cloak that had been left in the main hall.

“What are you--”

“You look breathtaking,” he stated, cutting her off before she could finish her question.

The flush in her face intensified and she laughed, shaking her head. “Jacen--”

“And _you’re laughing_.”

“Because you are _ridiculous_.”

“ _Me?_ Come on.” He stepped towards her, reaching out to tuck stray waves of red-gold behind her ear. “I mean, I’ve always had a soft spot for the armor you wore at the academy -- and it was usually that or practical stuff like the jumpsuits we used on Myrkr, but… _this_. I mean… I bet you hate it, but… _this_.”

The Queen Mother turned away from him, starting down the corridor towards the stairs. She could sense him following and could tell he wanted to keep prodding her, but was holding back. He was silent until they reached the entrance to the royal bedchambers, where she entered the code to open the door and looked over her shoulder to him as he cleared his throat.

“Do I get a goodnight kiss for playing the part of the winner and walking you back to your room to make it look like you didn’t buck tradition? I can hide in the Divora Residence for the rest of the night.” Jacen turned his head slightly and pointed to his cheek while he spoke. “This part of my face is cold and lonely and thinks it deserves a goodnight kiss.”

With the faintest snicker, Tenel Ka wrapped her fingers around the front closure of his jacket and tugged him into the room behind her. He waited until the door shut to speak. “ _Well…_ ” He started, brushing off his jacket. “Little bit of the Dathomirian in you showing, huh?”

“You do not stop, do you?”

“ _When have I ever?_ ”

“Fact.”

“So, pazaak?”

“Jacen, _please_. The Galaxy Rendezvous marathon?”

“That’s right!” Jacen laughed, moved to her holoscreen and started fiddling with the control panel, while Tenel Ka sat down on the chair at the small table by the balcony doors and began undoing the straps on her sandals.

That exact instant in time -- him working the holoscreen and her taking her heels off after a long night of _politics_ \-- she wanted to remember it forever. It was such a banal moment, but she figured that was why she had latched onto it. It was _normal_ , something she never got to experience and something that could happen anytime if they were together more often.

“Hey, you okay?”

Snapping out of her sudden reverie, she looked up to Jacen, who had the host of Galaxy Rendezvous hovering over his shoulder, explaining the rules of the show to the contestants. She nodded and he moved to her, holding a hand out to help her out of the chair. When he pulled her up, his effort caused her to almost slam into his chest, but she caught herself and looked up at him when she heard him chuckle.

“You got short,” he said.

Tenel Ka scoffed and pushed him aside with the back of her hand, moving to the dresser where she meticulously began to take off each piece of jewelry she had worn that night. Jacen finally pulled his mask off and moved to the bed, seating himself on the edge of it.

“So tell me about this preposterous tradition.”

“It has to do with the Lorell Raiders and how they used to take women back to Hapes to be slaves. You know about all that, correct?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“And how the Jedi helped get rid of the raiders -- the Battle of Lorell?”

“Yeah, and that’s why most Hapans are still against the idea of the Jedi.”

“Well, the Marauder's Masquerade was created long ago when the women on Hapes took over as an event to celebrate. The Queen Mother choosing someone on the last night to join her for the rest of the festivities had something to do-- represented-- I don’t know… it was supposed to be like she was taking him as a slave. Getting back at the men for everything that had happened then… most Hapan traditions are… questionable at best.”

“So... I’m your slave?”

Tenel Ka delivered a lazy shrug as she turned away from the dresser. “Apparently.”

“Do you need anything, _Your Most Esteemed Majesty_? _She who has no equal_?”

She sat down on the plush chaise lounge at the foot of the oversized bed. “I need this marathon of questionable programming and I will be fine.”

Jacen reached down and took his boots off, then rolled backwards onto the bed, laying on his stomach with his head next to hers. “I like the way you think, Tenel Ka.”

They had only watched roughly three minutes of Galaxy Rendezvous when there was a knock at the door. Tenel Ka stood and made her way across the room. “Another part of the _tradition_.”

Jacen watched as she came back in from the main foyer of the chambers, pulling a silver cart behind her. His eyes hadn’t been on it for two heartbeats before he could smell the strong waves of something sweet hitting him.

“Dessert gets delivered to the royal bedchambers.” She let go of the cart and stopped its motion with her hip. “Well, _left_ at entrance to the royal bedchambers, since whoever delivers it isn’t supposed to linger to witness whatever is going on in the room.”

Everything he heard about this tradition elevated it to a new level of bizarre for Jacen. “Wow.”

Sliding a tray off of the cart, Tenel Ka steadily balanced it on her way to the bed, setting it in front of Jacen and pulling the lid off.

“ _Wow_ ,” he repeated, when he saw the display of pastries and sugar-coated fruits in front of him. “Alright, some of this tradition is agreeing with me.”

“What--” Tenel Ka slid a berry off of the tray and slipped it past her lips, licking the sugar from her fingers afterwards. “--you do not enjoy being my slave?”

“Oh, no, that part agrees with me too.” He said, nonchalantly. “That’s fine.”

When she seated herself back on the chaise lounge, Jacen nudged her shoulder. “See, look.” He pushed a berry against her lips without warning, trying to clumsily poke it into her mouth. When she took it and began to chew, almost snapping his finger with her teeth, he beamed. “See, this agrees with me too. I’m good at it.”

As she finished the berry he had fed her, her eyes locked back on the holoscreen and Jacen watched her, his own eyes locking on her profile. He got through four berries and a pastry that way, without looking to the screen once, and when a commercial started, he found himself speaking up before thinking about what he was going to say.

“I’m sorry about… last night and today-- just everything.”

Her whole body shifted on the chaise lounge, the purple silk shimmering with each movement and Jacen found himself staring at her lips, still painted almost the same shade as her dress, while she spoke.

“For what?”

He couldn’t look away from her lips.

“I know between us, I’ve always been sort of… overly emotional and you were always the one who hid your emotions. Even with everything that happened during the war, Myrkr, Yuuzhan’tar -- all of it, I still find my emotions overwhelming sometimes. I guess that’s one of the reasons I occasionally get stuck on the past. I’ve always held a place for you in me, in my heart. And this--” He motioned to his temple, drawing an imaginary line in the air to her temple. “--we’ve always had this. It’s always been strong. So, this trip I kept finding myself thinking that I made the mistake of clinging onto things that don’t mean as much now as they did then.”

“Is that why you asked about Myrkr?”

Jacen finally pulled his deep brown eyes up to her stormy gray gaze while his head nodded slowly.

“That was… it was a… it’s been awhile since then, and I asked about it and then it festered in my mind, the thought that then-- on Myrkr, before I left, it meant so much to you -- and the mere thought that you were going to kiss me there, in front of everyone -- that’s one of the things that helped get me through a lot of difficult moments. So it sort of became this beacon in my mind. Then you became the Queen Mother, you have a ton of other things to worry about, you have all these really good-looking guys waiting in line just to _talk to you_ … and then here’s Jacen Solo still wondering about that almost-kiss that was most likely an _in-the-moment_ thing.”

He pushed a berry around on the tray in front of him, his hand shaking slightly as he did.

“And then last night we were both… _drunk_. So me trying to fit that into the equation-- and me getting it in my head that maybe you were just enjoying my company because I was something familiar...” He shook his head. “All of that. _Mess._ That’s why I wanted to leave. I made a fool of myself.”

“What made you stay?”

Jacen laughed nervously, his expression falling when he realized what he was about to say.

“Galaxy Rendezvous.”

“......elaborate?”

He opened his mouth, hesitated, and then shut it, rolling to the edge of the bed and sliding off of it. He shifted Tenel Ka’s skirt gently to the side before sitting himself beside her legs on the chaise lounge.

“I love you.”

He could feel the blast of shock in their connection, but he could barely see a flinch on her face.

“Was that your elaboration?”

His lopsided grin showed itself as he motioned to the holoscreen. “It was on earlier and they were going on about the new contestant _finding love_ and all that rambling that usually goes on, you know. It made me think though -- if I left here without telling you how I felt? It would just eat at me. Like the Myrkr thing did. I don’t expect anything back, you saying it, you reacting to it -- I just wanted you to know. And no matter what, I don’t want to lose one of my best friends. So I apologize if I just made everything awkward. That _is_ something I’m good at, which you also know.”

Her face still showed no signs of shifting into any sort of expression, but her hand reached out, her palm rested on his cheek and she slowly let her fingers drift back towards her, his head inadvertently following her touch. When he was close enough, she leaned up slightly and let her lips graze his, only letting them meet with more depth once she spoke through their bond.

_I love you too._

The instant the words passed through his mind, Jacen practically melted against her, his body draping over hers, right hand next to where her head rested and left next to her waist, planted in the cushion helping him balance over her. The kiss was gentle, but he was holding back and he could feel that she was too. They might have been drunk the night before, but Jacen hadn’t forgotten the fervent and pleasing feeling of her tongue against his.

Pulling away from her, he stood from his seat beside her and held a hand out to her. When she stood up in front of him, their hands still joined between their bodies, Jacen nodded, his gaze on something over her shoulder. She knew without looking that he was motioning to the bed. The oversized island of a bed she didn’t sleep in because it was _too much_.

Jacen leaned closer to her, his hand that wasn’t joined with hers brushing a curtain of hair from in front of her ear.

“You won’t be lonely,” he whispered, his breath skating down her neck as he spoke.

She squeezed his hand and he waited a few moments then let go, slipping around her and pulling the covers back. “ _Your Majesty_.” He bowed dramatically and pointed both hands at the bed, palms up and arms out. When she approached, he stepped out of her way and rounded to the foot of the bed, crawling up on the chaise lounge and resting on his knees, watching her.

Tenel Ka scooted to the middle of the bed and sat at the head of it, against the multitude of pillows. She awkwardly nestled into the spot she had found and Jacen’s gaze went from the faint smile that appeared on her face to the way her gown fanned out over the white sheets that always hid underneath the comforter and finally down her legs to her feet, which were tucked under the blankets with what Jacen was sure was an absolutely unintended coyness.

“How does it feel?” He asked, his lips in his usual crooked upturn. He grabbed what was left of the tray of desserts and moved it to the spot on the chaise lounge next to his knees then he shifted his arms to either side of him, hands resting on the intricately carved wooden posts of the bed.

_Incomplete._

At that mere word, Jacen pushed himself off the seat and dove into the bed, landing next to her on his stomach. He turned his head towards her and propped it up with his hand. “Now?”

“Better, I guess.”

“You _guess_.” Jacen scoffed. “You have to get comfortable.” He unbuckled his dress jacket and threw it over the side of the bed to the ground, pulling the creases out of his thin undershirt, then he added his socks to the discarded pile of clothing that was now forming on the ground by his side of the bed. Pulling the covers up, he slid his back down the pillows and buried his head in the plush cushions of fluff that he had subconsciously missed since the first night when he was in the royal bed. The Divora Residence had perfectly fine pillows, but the Queen Mother’s were obviously going to be the best.

“It’s not that easy for me, Jacen.”

He arched an eyebrow and turned his head, peering to where she still sat up beside him.

“You have all these pieces on -- I got to take off my shoes and my jewelry. All that is left is the gown and I was tied into this... _thing_ before dinner.” She shifted slightly and Jacen could see an intricate set of deep purple knots going up her back.

“They locked you in a fabric prison.”

She released a tired chuckle.

“Here, we’ll find you something else then.” Jacen threw the covers back and placed his bare feet on the carpet, standing and making his way to the walk-in wardrobe near the refresher. He hit the control panel for the lights inside and his jaw slowly fell at the amount of clothing he was now surrounded by -- dresses, tunics, pants, shirts, _all the shoes_. Things were hanging up, others were folded on shelves, and there were piles of some sort of somethings made out of Hapan silk. Dresses? Blankets? One of the things Jacen recognized was a gown she had worn one of the previous nights of the masquerade.

“Good luck going through that chaos.” Tenel Ka said, as she stepped up beside him.

“Don’t you have something like… lounge pants or nightgowns or _something_ comfortable?”

“Somewhere.” Her hand waved in the general direction of where they most likely were. The aides and handmaidens kept track of the Queen Mother’s wardrobe -- Tenel Ka had no interest in doing that -- so she usually wore whatever they put out for her when it came time for public events. She had a set of basic and practical outfits that she rotated through herself on days where she had no pressing official business to attend to.

Jacen was still wide-eyed, his gaze traveling around the rainbow of fabric around him. When Tenel Ka came into his view, he motioned to her to turn around and gently gathered the mess of loose waves her hair had become, placing them over her shoulder, before crouching down and snorting at the slew of knots on the back of her dress. He hesitated momentarily and then started picking at them, his fingers deftly working through them one at a time.

As he methodically moved up the line, undoing them one-by-one, he found he could breathe in her scent again. He found it helped to slow down his rapid heartbeat, which he hadn’t even realized had been almost jumping out of his chest. Did she really tell him she loved him too? Had his mind been imagining it?

When he saw her back shift a bit and her body shiver slightly, he stopped his fingers.

“Sorry, you were breathing on my back and it…”

“It _tickled_?”

Jacen couldn’t see her expression, but he definitely heard Tenel Ka sigh.

“You’re _ticklish_?”

“Do not.” A pause. “ Don’t _you dare_.”

He raised his head slightly, above the three knots he still needed to undo, and blew the softest breath he could manage on her upper back, which the dress left bare.

“ _Jacen._ ”

“Hey, I’m not doing anything! Just trying to get these knots out, Your Majesty.”

After he finished with the last one, he didn’t indicate his success right away, but as the two sides of the dress fell apart to reveal more of her spine, Jacen couldn’t resist another barely-there exhale.

She had been ready for him though and spun around, placing her fingers under his chin and pulling his face up to hers. “What was that about not doing anything?”

The straps of her heavy gown had been holding it up, but the fact that the back was now undone seemed to give them more of a workout. The front slipped slightly, revealing more of her décolletage, something which Jacen tried not to be too obvious about noticing as he whispered to her, his grin taking over his lips. “I freed you from your _royal prison_ , _Princess_.”

“You are fairly useful. I’m glad I chose you.” She moved her hand from his chin, slipping her arm around his neck and pulling herself closer to him. “What noble house did you say you were from again?”

“ _House Solo_ , Your Highnessness.”

He barely got the words out before their lips joined and their eyes closed, his arm slipping around her waist and the other hand caressing her cheek. The sudden way their connection lit up made him shudder involuntarily, his skin already bristling from the feel of her fingers dancing up the nape of his neck. They swayed slightly and Jacen took a step back to try to lead them out of the wardrobe without breaking their contact, but his foot caught on one of the many pairs of shoes that lined the small room and he tripped, falling into the giant pile of mostly silk and taking her with him.

“That was lucky,” he murmured, joining her laughter.

“I never thought I would hear anyone call my dirty clothes lucky.”

“These are your dirty clothes?” He took a moment to arch his eyebrow. “Even _luckier_.”

Tenel Ka shook her head, chuckles still escaping her as exhales which he caught and breathed in when his mouth met with hers once more. He pulled her on top of him, his hands moving to her cheeks, before they slid down to her neck, then her shoulders and finally to her upper arms. After a small squeeze to her bare arms, his hands moved further, the fingers of his right grazing the skin where her left arm ended. Jacen felt her tense momentarily. He knew people tried to ignore her left arm -- especially Hapans, like the suitors, with their ridiculous _beauty standards_ \-- but it was part of her and the _lack_ of a prosthetic was part of her. And Jacen loved that part of her like he loved every other part of her. That split second of tension he felt only pushed him harder in making sure Tenel Ka knew exactly how he felt about her and how he always wanted to feel about her.

His hands rested at her waist, his fingers putting pressure against her sides when he felt her tongue pass his lips or her body shifting against his. Their bond through the Force was still blazing with an intense and pleasurable heat that could be felt from head to toe and that, in addition to the sensation he felt every time she moved against him, made Jacen feel like he was going to pass out.

And he hadn’t even had anything to drink.

When she pulled away from him, he felt her teeth graze his bottom lip and that was the moment he realized he had been attempting a Jedi calming technique without even knowing -- that was also the moment he realized there was no way it was working because it felt like his heart was about to jump up into his throat. She was staring down at him, her face hovering over his, and he could see her eyes moving the slightest bit, traveling over his features. He brought his palm to her cheek and rubbed her lip with his thumb, his whisper filling the air.

“What are you thinking about?”

Her answer was instant and her eyes snapped back to his when she said it. “How much I missed you.”

The feel of her breath against his thumb caused him to tighten his arm around her waist.

“After I took up the crown, I thought I would never see you again.”

“Why?”

“You have better things to do than hang around here and me leaving the planet is always a giant headache.”

“Well, _Your Majesty_ , I’m extremely sorry to say that it’s going to be very hard for you to get rid of me now.”

“Oh, is it?” Tenel Ka slid off of him, shifting to keep her gown in place as she did, and held her hand out.

Jacen took it and it didn’t surprise him a bit when she pulled him up out of the pile of clothes like he weighed nothing. He noticed a piece of clothing had attached itself to him. “Mmmhmm.” He took a moment to detach the buckle of one of her tunics that had gotten caught on the waistband of his pants, throwing it back into the pile of clothes they had just crawled out of, Jacen motioning to her after he did. “You know, _that’s_ considered dirty now, so if you’re going to change you should probably put it in the dirty clothes pile.”

He had just been prodding her and couldn’t keep his bewilderment out of their connection when she suddenly wiggled her arms out of the straps of her gown and let the garment collapse to the ground and pool in a deep purple heap around her feet. Jacen found himself staring at her bare back, his eyes running down between her shoulder blades and stopping at the dimples near the small of her back. A flush hit his cheeks then -- they were just two small indentations on her back, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from them -- they had always been there under her armor, under her gowns and robes and cloaks and dresses and how many people knew about them besides him?

“I was just… kidding around, but…” He couldn’t help the way his gaze lingered on her skin, but he tilted his head and his jaw fell when he realized something. “They… they match your _undergarments_ to your _gowns_?”

She had turned around as he spoke and Jacen could _see_ the tired laugh she responded with travel through her body. It hypnotized him -- her midsection tensing and loosening as the sound hit the air and her shoulders lifting and dropping the slightest bit as she raised her hand and swept it around the wardrobe. “Are you surprised?”

His mind was still processing how this was all a thing that was really happening so the shake of his head was slow and deliberate. “Actually, no. Not at all.”

“Do you want me to put something on? I am quite sure I can find--”

“Psh, _Your Majesty_.” Jacen waved his hand dismissively. “You’re the Queen Mother, it’s _up to you._ ”

The smile that lit her face up made the flush in his cheeks flare up again and it just kept getting warmer as she stepped up to him.

“Alright, my nightgowns are in this mess somewhere and we have a _garish game show_ we’re supposed to be watching, so is it alright if I just use this?” Her fingers clenched around a handful of the thin fabric of his undershirt.

“By all means,” he batted her hand away from his shirt and took it off at lightning speed, placing it in her palm and pushing her fingers shut around it. She didn’t put it on though, she just slung it over her shoulder, giving him a tight smile and slipping past him to exit the wardrobe.

Jacen’s eyes never left her, his head turning with her as she passed him, and he watched as she crawled back into the bed and set the shirt down on the sheets beside her.

_You gonna put it on?_

_At some point._

Tenel Ka knew her response -- even with no actual sound -- echoed in his head in a disarming sort of way. Every time they touched each other a wave of uneasiness washed over her. It was a foreign feeling to her, someone who had always been so aloof and detached when it came to emotions and feelings and things of the sort. There was nothing negative about his touch, she welcomed it -- she _craved_ it -- her uncertainty stemmed from her and her alone. When she had lost him at Myrkr, she had realized what that feeling had been that only he managed to ever stir in her. She couldn’t live without him. She loved him.

From then on, she had started paying more attention to things she felt and the ways other people felt -- it became more than helpful when she took up the crown and became the Queen Mother of Hapes. Reading people and what they were feeling became a second nature to her; it was something she could do without relying on the Force to do it.

This -- these four days -- they were the first instance she had spent time alone with Jacen since before she had figured out and admitted to herself what her feelings for him had been. Now this intense heat in their connection, the desire she could feel through it -- for him and from him -- it felt so remarkable and satisfying, but overpowering at the same time. When he touched her, his fingers on her collarbone, his lips on her skin, his body against hers, she physically reacted to him so easily -- something that was also foreign to her. She had never been a tactile person either. Tenel Ka wondered how much farther they could go without her losing her breath or growing lightheaded. The alcohol the night before had stifled all of the thoughts then that ran through her head now and she was jolted from her musings when she felt the bed shake as Jacen Solo crept into it to sit beside her.

“You alright, Tenel Ka?”

“Yes, just…” She trailed off, gaze staring at the holoscreen but not registering anything on it. With a deep inhale, she turned to him. “This… it’s…”

“Overwhelming,” his voice had lowered to a whisper.

“Yes. But not in a bad way.” She could feel the heat radiating off of his skin, from his chest which was definitely more toned than it had been the last time she had seen it, which had been the day they were being outfitted with their jumpsuits for the Myrkr mission. “I have always had this _place_ for you, we have always had this… bond, and the things I’ve been feeling in it…”

“Overwhelming,” Jacen repeated, softer, his hand sweeping red-gold hair from her shoulder.

Her nod was followed by a gulp, as her gaze watched the moving images from the holoscreen cast colors on Jacen’s face, lighting up the features she was always so drawn into. “I feel for you right now, what I felt when I lost you on Myrkr -- I am afraid I’m going to lose you. I’m afraid that when you leave here, it will be the last time I see you.”

She studied his face as his expression fell and she could feel the denial rolling off of him regarding her worry. He opened his mouth to protest but stopped when she spoke again.

“I have never been good with _feelings_ , Jacen. You know that. Give me a _race_. Give me an _opponent_. Give me a _ship_ , even. But give me these _feelings_ and I do not know how to deal with them. I just feel so strongly about you-- _too_ strongly. And feeling this way is _absolutely overwhelming_.”

“Tenel Ka.” Jacen took her hand in both of his and squeezed. “You’re not going to lose me -- forget that thought, forget that possibility, _please_ . I told you it’s gonna be impossible to get rid of me now, right?” His lopsided grin managed to breach his lips. “Don’t think of things like that. You don’t want _bad_ overwhelming. You want _good_ overwhelming -- you want _breathtaking_ . This all --” He moved his eyes away from hers to dart around the room, then looked back at her. “This.” His gaze shifted down to her body. “This.” He drew an invisible line between their temples again. “And this.” Jacen let go of her hand and placed a finger on her midsection, tracing a delicate line upwards, between her breasts and up to her collarbone, slowing and moving to place his lips where his fingertip had stopped, planting a lingering kiss at the hollow of her neck. Their connection flared fiercely and Jacen could _hear_ her heartbeat from where his head remained in the crook of her neck. He didn’t pull away when he felt her hand against the back of his head, her fingers intertwining with thick locks of brown hair, he just rested his temple on her shoulder and inhaled her scent, whispering against her neck. “Breathtaking.”

“I love you,” she sighed, her breath traveling down the skin of his back.

Jacen gently pulled back from her, his eyes seeking out hers and his eyebrows raising for a moment.

_What was that, Your Majesty?_

Sliding her fingers from his hair, she brought her hand up to her face, trying to conceal her warm cheeks. It was only a few heartbeats before she was composed enough to drop her hand and drill her gray gaze into his wide, brandy-brown eyes. “ _I love you_ , Jacen Solo.”

_Breathtaking._

“I love you too.” Jacen almost reached out and pulled her into his arms, but he held back, motioning to the shirt that sat on the sheets beside her. “So was that just a ploy to get me to take my shirt off?”

“Maybe.” Tenel Ka reached up, touching his cheek, her hand slowly sliding down his jaw.

“You could’ve _just asked_ , you know. I am _your slave_ after all.” Jacen smirked as he spoke, then turned his head the slightest bit to the left to place a small kiss on the heel of her palm.

Tenel Ka’s hand slid back, her fingers at the nape of his neck again, and she crawled into his lap. Jacen tilted his head back, brushed his chin against her chest and kept his eyes locked on her lips, and she peered down at him, her own gaze moving down his face and doing the same. Arms slightly more muscular than she remembered from Myrkr wrapped around her and when she felt his fingers drift aimlessly over the skin of her back, she leaned down and kissed him.

_“No! He’s the one who said it first! He should be disqualified! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I HAVE TO GO?”_

They both laughed, their lips still locked. Their chuckles continued as they broke apart, both of them turning their attention to the holoscreen.

“Yes you do, Gren. You were a horrible contestant anyway. _Shut up and go home_ ,” Jacen demanded, before he erupted into giggles again.

Tenel Ka cleared her throat to make sure her voice was coherent enough for the holoscreen to register.

“Holoscreen. _Mute_.”

Jacen was laughing against her collarbone and she found herself grinning into the hair at the crown of his head. The room was suddenly silent except for their snickers and the only light was the glow of the holoscreen, bathing them both in a kaleidoscope of colors. It was only a moment or two after they both quieted down that they were pressed up against each other again, his palms on her sides and his lips dragging across the skin above her breasts. Since the show had been muted, Jacen could hear every noise she made and he silently thanked Gren for his temper-tantrum because her shuddering exhales and the soft sound that escaped her when her breath caught in her throat drove him to some edge he didn’t know existed.

He pulled her head down to his again, his lips demanding and hungry against hers, and Tenel Ka pushed him back so he was lying down, following him without taking her lips from his. Jacen heard a hum from her and felt her mild surprise when he rolled them both over, held himself over her by burying his hands into the sheets on either side of her head and then deepened their kiss, his brow furrowing and his fingers digging into the bed when he felt her palm skating down his chest and stopping at the buckle to the pants of his dress uniform. Tearing his lips from hers, Jacen kept his eyes shut for a few moments as he tried to catch his breath, then opened them and smiled at the sight of her, eyes still shut, chest heaving under his and copper hair fanned out against the pillows under her head.

Jacen spoke, his voice hoarse. “I’m glad I decided to make this trip.”

She finally opened her eyes, and even though he was blocking the light from the holoscreen, Jacen could still see the exhilaration in them. “As am I.”

Their connection was buzzing and every time they physically made contact with each other a spark lit -- making every touch that much more intense and every part of their bodies that much more sensitive.

Fingers delicately brushed the skin near his hips, dragging across his abdomen and back to the buckle of his pants, where she made quick work of it, stifling a laugh as Jacen tried to shuffle out of the garment while hovering over her. The laugh escaped her when Jacen pressed his tongue against his upper lip in concentration and shook his legs, finally getting them to the point where the pants were caught on only one foot.

“ _Really?_ ” Jacen said.

Tenel Ka carefully shifted her leg and used her toes to push his pants off of his foot, where they fell to the ground by his jacket.

“Thank you.”

Moving down her body, Jacen let his left cheek rest against her hip, his gaze trailing down to the only thing she was still wearing. He chuckled, raising his eyes to her face. “Hapan silk.”

“Of course.” She said, flatly. 

Jacen caught her eyeroll in the glow of the holoscreen and wasted no time after that hooking a finger under the top hem and ridding her of the other dreaded royal prison she had been put into that evening. He let one of the holes her legs had been in slide down his pointer finger, where he spun the barely-there piece of clothing around a couple times. “Matching _these_ to your _gown_. _Ridiculous_.” Scoffing, but with a grin, Jacen threw the silk to the ground, where it fluttered down and landed on his pants. He crawled back over her, shaking his head. “Preposterous.” Pushing his face into the crook of her neck, he kissed the soft spot under her ear. “Outrageous.” He could feel her fingers in his hair again, and pressed gently into her touch, while he moved his lips down her jawline. “ _Ludicrous_.” Her heartbeat pounded against his chest, next to where he could feel his own beating wildly and he moved to where he could look down, directly into her eyes. After a slight wiggle of his eyebrows, he lowered his lips to where they were almost touching hers and finished his list with a soft exhale. “ _Silly_.”

They spent an episode and a half of Galaxy Rendezvous exploring each other’s bodies with their fingers and lips, whispering and laughing, both of them experiencing feelings -- physical and emotional -- that they couldn’t explain right away. Their connection seemed to magnify everything and there were a few moments during that episode and a half where they both thought they would pass out. Jacen collapsed on top of her at one point, and Tenel Ka tensed up and shook him, worry creeping into her mind until she heard him murmur against her neck. “ _Again_. Gotta… that again.”

_Breathtaking._

He found out he enjoyed letting his fingertips travel over her body, because she most definitely was ticklish, but he also found himself quite pleased at the fact that for someone who had been so hard for him to read when they were younger, he could now read every little shift of her expression like it was another language he spoke. When he touched her side and he saw her lips try to avoid the upturn she couldn’t keep off of them, or when he drew circles at the small of her back, between the dimples there, and he saw her eyes widen momentarily and her lips purse, that small, almost silent exhale -- he could catch every little movement and it fascinated him.

At the end of the episode and a half, Jacen was sprawled across the foot of the bed, leg hanging off and heel resting on the chaise lounge. One hand was under his head and the other was aimlessly rubbing the smooth back of the Queen Mother of Hapes, whose body was practically draped over his, head on his chest facing the holoscreen and hair tickling Jacen’s skin.

“We should move to the pillows,” Tenel Ka said, still trying to regulate her breathing. “Holoscreen. Unmute.”

“That takes effort.” Jacen reached down to the chaise lounge and picked up a berry, slipping it between his lips. “Energy.” With a grumble, he slid out from under her and moved to the head of the bed. Tenel Ka waited until he got comfortable and then settled down beside him, slipping her feet under the massively disheveled covers. The credits were rolling on the penultimate episode of the season that was being marathoned and Tenel Ka clicked her tongue.

“You made me miss the whole season. _Thanks_.”

A bark of laughter escaped Jacen and echoed in the cavernous royal bedchambers as he pulled the sheets up higher over them both and draped his arm around her shoulders, situating himself back against the pillows and nuzzling her hair. “Your sarcasm has evolved so well. You did learn from the best, after all.” He took note of the faintest shadow of a smile on her face. “And we get to see the finale. That’s the important one.”

They fell asleep in each other’s arms two commercial breaks before the winner was announced, clothes on the ground, half-finished dessert at the foot of the bed, and their connection still warm even as they slept.

Tenel Ka awoke a couple hours later, just before dawn, and sat up, shivering at the cold air that suddenly enveloped her naked body. She felt a stirring next to her and turned, feeling a welcome burst of comfort in her heart at the sight of Jacen Solo sleeping next to her. A grin broke her lips -- this time, he _was_ drooling on the pillow.

 _Breathtaking_ , she mused.

Reaching over him, she grabbed his shirt that had somehow stayed on the bed through all the events of the night before and slipped it over her head. The fabric was thinly knit, but provided some shield from the cool air. As she laid back down, Tenel Ka knew it would be mere moments before she was warm again and she was right. Jacen sleepily wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back to his chest.

“‘S my shirt.”

“Fact.”

Tenel Ka heard a kissing noise from behind her, Jacen’s lips buried somewhere in her hair, and she felt his legs tangle with hers. The sound of his inhales and exhales passing between his lips soothed her, lulling her back into a doze. As she continued falling further back into slumber, she could hear a commercial playing on the holoscreen for a marathon of the most recent season of Galaxy Rendezvous. It would be airing that night.

Maybe Jacen would extend his stay.

“I will,” she heard him murmur, before she drifted back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Last chapter! I want to thank anyone who has read this far/put up with me this long re: this story. I've just been having ridiculous amounts of J/TK feels lately and I needed an outlet. I'm very grateful and humbled that you guys have enjoyed this outlet and have stuck with it! I had been gone from any sort of writing for so long that it felt weird to be jumping back into it and to have people reading a me-getting-out-of-a-writing-funk story means a lot. I <3 you guys. :3
> 
> This was the J/TK yay happy story, btw! The other one I started writing at the same time as this one is Not So Happy. The first part of that will go up soon and the title of it is _You're The Wrong I Need_. So, maybe if you like angst and... family angst and maybe some dirty angst. JUST ANGST IN GENERAL? -- then feel free to stick around for that one! I will be glad to have you along for the crazy ride! ;D


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